{"id":14706,"date":"2026-02-21T04:11:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/14706\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T04:11:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:11:03","slug":"state-department-warns-of-avalanche-danger-in-switzerland-austria-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/14706\/","title":{"rendered":"State Department warns of avalanche danger in Switzerland, Austria, France"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">The<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/foreign-policy\/state-department\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> State Department<\/a> on Friday issued a warning of &#8220;significantly increased avalanche danger&#8221; in parts of Switzerland, Austria, and France, telling Americans abroad to monitor local avalanche forecasts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">The warning comes after dozens of people have died in avalanches across Europe this season so far.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Authorities report significantly increased avalanche danger in parts of Switzerland, Austria, and France,&#8221; the State Department wrote in the alert. &#8220;Monitor conditions via the European Avalanche Warning Service: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.avalanches.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">https:\/\/avalanches.org<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>An alert from the U.S. embassy in Austria said Austrian authorities have reported &#8220;significantly increased avalanche danger in Alpine regions,&#8221; with parts of Tyrol and Vorarlberg at Danger Level 4, which is considered high, and other Alpine regions in are at Danger Level 3, which is &#8220;considerable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/eight-skiers-found-dead-one-missing-massive-lake-tahoe-avalanche\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">6 MOTHERS WHO \u2018CHERISHED TIME TOGETHER\u2019 AMONG VICTIMS IN AVALANCHE NEAR LAKE TAHOE<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/avalanche-warning-in-alps.jpg\" alt=\"Avalanche sign in the Alps\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>The State Department on Friday issued a warning of &#8220;significantly increased avalanche danger&#8221; in parts of Switzerland, Austria, and France, telling Americans abroad to monitor local avalanche forecasts. (Getty)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At Danger Level 4, avalanches can be triggered very easily, and large to very large natural avalanches can be expected,&#8221; the embassy wrote. &#8220;Exposed transportation routes may be at risk. Conditions are extremely dangerous for snow sports outside marked and open trails. Local authorities may preemptively close certain areas and prohibit access.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/state-department-issues-security-alert-amid-heavy-gunfire-near-us-embassy-haiti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES SECURITY ALERT AMID \u2018HEAVY GUNFIRE\u2019 NEAR US EMBASSY IN HAITI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The embassy said Americans in those areas should monitor avalanche forecasts, listen to local authorities, avoid backcountry activities, and stay on marked trails.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/avalanche-rescue-in-france.jpg\" alt=\"Avalanche rescue in the French Alps\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A French emergency management helicopter rescued an avalanche victim in the French Alps on Jan. 29.\u00a0 (Jeff Pachoud\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. embassy in Switzerland also reported &#8220;significantly increased avalanche danger,&#8221; with large regions in the Cantons of Valais and Graub\u00fcnden at Danger Level 4 and other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/travel\/regions\/europe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">alpine regions in Switzerland<\/a> and Liechtenstein at Level 3.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In France, the U.S. embassy also reported &#8220;strong or very strong avalanche risk in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/world\/world-regions\/france\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Alpine regions in France<\/a> along the borders with Italy and Switzerland,&#8221; including Hautes Alpes, Isere, Savoie, and Haute-Savoie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/avalanche-warning-in-austria.jpg\" alt=\"Ski patrolers in Austria\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>A ski patrol on their way to check the ski slopes and other nearby areas for hazards and avalanches after a heavy snowfall in Austria.\u00a0 (Getty)<\/p>\n<p>Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the U.S., eight skiers also died near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/travel\/vacation-destinations\/lake-tahoe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Lake Tahoe<\/a> and one remains missing this week in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/california-avalanche-killed-8-deadliest-state-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">deadliest avalanche in California<\/a> history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! The State Department on Friday issued a warning of &#8220;significantly&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[197,1053,4747,17,1063,876],"class_list":["post-14706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-europe","tag-lifestyle","tag-state-department","tag-switzerland","tag-travel","tag-weather"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}