Britons killed in Alps

Three British men have died in two separate climbing accidents in the Alps.

According to French police, two climbers were on the 3,700 metre high Cosmiques ridge near Mont Blanc on Friday when they fell 300 metres to their deaths.

The Foreign Office has confirmed the deaths but neither man has been named by the authorities.

Another man, described as a British resident, also died on Friday in a rock fall on the Meitin glacier in Switzerland, according to police.

'Seven' deaths

The man was said to be leading a group of four climbers when he was hit by falling rocks at an altitude of 3,500 metres.

There have reportedly been seven deaths in the French and Swiss Alps in the past two days.

A 15-year-old French boy is reported to have fallen to his death in a incident in the Embrun sector of the French Alps on Friday.

A Frenchman also died in a separate incident in the southern French Alps when he slipped while crossing a glacier and hit his head on a block of ice.

He was with two companions who were unhurt in the incident.

Treacherous

Late on Thursday two other climbers were killed in the southern Valais region of the Swiss Alps.

They fell over 600 metres from the slopes of the Matterhorn, Swiss police said.

The victims have not been named.

The onset of unseasonably poor summer weather is said to have made climbing conditions treacherous in the Alps.