The Latest: Body of German skier recovered after avalanche

BERLIN – The Latest on winter weather in Europe (all times local):

5:10 p.m.

Austrian police say they have recovered the body of a fourth German skier killed in an avalanche near the resort of Lech last weekend.

Police in Vorarlberg province said rescue workers using search dogs and an avalanche probe located the man’s body under 2.5 metres (8.2 feet) of snow on Wednesday.

The bodies of the man’s three companions were recovered hours after they were hit by an avalanche on Saturday. Heavy snow and the risk of further avalanches meant that authorities then had to call off the search. Police say the four friends had skied onto a trail that was closed.

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3:15 p.m.

Norwegian police say the body of one of four skiers who were buried by an avalanche in northern Norway earlier this month has been recovered.

Police spokesman John-Kaare Granheim says a helicopter brought the body down to a valley and it would be taken to the city of Tromsoe in a hearse.

Granheim said Wednesday there was poor visibility in the area and search efforts would continue weather permitting.

Four skiers — a woman from Sweden and three men from Finland — were taken by a 300-meter- wide (900-foot-wide) avalanche that hit the Tamok Valley on Jan. 2.

The weather hampered initial rescue efforts and the four were presumed dead after two days.

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2:05 p.m.

Officials have ordered residents of a village in southern Germany to leave their homes immediately due to “acute” avalanche risk.

Authorities said Wednesday that villagers of Raiten, near the Austrian border, should take important documents and medicines with them, and inform neighbours who may be unaware of the warning.

Heavy snowfall over the past weeks has greatly heightened the risk of avalanches in parts of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Dozens of people have died in avalanches and weather-related accidents.

The German meteorological service DWD said Wednesday that the amount of snowfall in the Alps recently was unusual, but not exceptional. The agency said heavy precipitation might become more frequent due to climate change, though rising temperatures mean it could come down as rain rather than snow.