*Alps snow strands thousands of tourists in Switzerland*

*Alps snow strands thousands of tourists in Switzerland*

Thousands of tourists have been left stranded after heavy snow in the Alps cut off towns and villages across Switzerland, France and Italy.

In the Swiss resort of Zermatt, more than 13,000 tourists are trapped and some visitors who wanted to leave were airlifted by helicopter.

French forecasters have described the snowfall as the kind that are only seen "once in every 30 years", with up to 1.8m (6ft) of snow falling in 36 hours in parts of the Savoie area.

In the Simplon region of Valais, where Zermatt is located, two metres (6.6ft) of snow fell in a 24-hour period, the Swiss ATS news agency said.