Alps region hit by appalling weather

Heavy snowfall and rains are causing havoc in parts of the Swiss and Italian Alps.

Two Italian hikers died when the Val Daone glacier that they were walking on began to thaw rapidly as the temperature made a sharp rise.

In south-eastern Switzerland two cars were swept away in an avalanche in the Julier Pass, and a rescue operation was hampered by the bad weather.

Meanwhile the whole area bordering northern Italy is on a high avalanche alert.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service