A snow reporting agency had issued 69 ‘powder alarms’ by lunchtime today with resorts across the Alps reporting at least 20cm (eight inches) of new snow overnight. French, Austrian and Swiss resorts have all reported healthy falls, with Swiss resorts claiming the biggest falls of up to a foot (30cm) at resorts like Engelberg, Gstaad and Kandersteg.

Ski areas in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and New York State as well as areas in more southerly states like New Jersey are benefitting from a storm system that is bringing lots of snow to Eastern North America. This is coming on top of healthy accumulations over the past week and is perfect timing for the busy Christmas and New Year holiday periods.

Ski areas have been opening across Eastern Europe this weekend after low temperatures and heavy snowfalls provided a big boost for the start of the season.

Heavy snow across the Western states of the US has been described as “an early Christmas present” by one Californian resort. Resorts around Lake Tahoe on the west coast and as far inland as Utah have been reporting several feet of fresh snow, dramatically boosting conditions in perfect time for the coming peak weeks of Christmas and New Year.

A major storm system moving across the USA from the Pacific Coast is adding huge snow accumulations to many of the country’s leading destination resorts. It’s great news for many of the major resorts in California and Colorado which have only been able to open limited terrain, often with machine made snow, due to a lack of major snowfalls prior to the current storm.

A snow reporting agency has announced more than 50 ‘powder alarms’ today as heavy snow has been reported across the Alps.

It’s welcome news for resorts which had been suffering mild temperatures after a snowy-start to November – hundreds are now confirming plans to open at the weekend.

A ‘powder alarm’ is automatically triggered when a resort reports more than 20cm (8 inches) of snow has fallen in the previous 24 hours.

Ski resorts in the Alps have begun their season earlier than ever thanks to unseasonably heavy snowfalls that left some places looking “like the middle of winter”.

Over the weekend, skiers and snowboarders enjoyed outstanding conditions for this time of year as a handful of European resorts opened earlier than expected following snowfalls of up to 20ins (50cm) in the past week.

In Saas Fee, Switzerland, snow depths have already reached more than 3ft (1m) on upper slopes, while the Austrian resort of Kitzbühel earlier set an 80-year record by opening on October 24.

Resorts are issuing dozens of powder alarms as heavy snow is falling across the Alps. More than 25 alarms have been issued in the past 24 hours for top resorts in Switzerland, Austria, France and Italy. The falls in the Alps follow heavy snow in Scandinavia at the weekend with resorts like Beitostølen in Norway, adding 46cm (18 inches) in the past seven days.

Val Gardena is one of the big winners at present reporting 80cm (nearly three feet) of new snow, 40cm (16 inches) of it in the past 24 hours, however it is not due to officially open until the end of the month. Bormio however has opened, for weekend skiing, joining the glacier ski areas of Cervinia (now open daily after weekend opening in October), Passo Stelvio and Val Senales. Many other ski resorts in the dolomites received up to 50cm (20 inches) of new snow, Cortina reported 45cm (18 inches).