Skiing
Ski-ing in France is increasingly popular with British people, but some are going ill prepared (Reuters/Michael Buholzer) Reuters

A 26-year-old British skier has frozen to death in the French Alps.

A Mail Online report suggests that Louis Robertson from Glasgow had been drinking before he went missing on Wednesday night. He was found in a mountain stream on the morning of Friday March 22.

Robertson was on holiday with two friends. The three had arrived in the popular La Plagne resort on Sunday March 17, and had planned to spend the week skiing and snowboarding.

According to witnesses, Robertson had been drinking heavily, and is believed to have lost his way while trying to find a short cut home in the dark.

"It appears to have been an unfortunate accident," a local police spokesman told Mail Online. "He wanted to take a short cut and, in the cold and dark, met his death."

The spokesman further said that "cold and too much alcohol" probably contributed to Robertson losing his way and ending up in the stream.

Although a missing persons report was filed on Thursday evening, the search was not started until the next day because of heavy snow and poor light.

British skiers and snowboarders regularly get into trouble due to drinking in the Alps.

In 2009, the then British ambassador to France launched a campaign informing British tourists of the dangers of drinking in high altitudes. Sir Peter Westmacott had said, "Over the past years, we've noticed a rise in accidents in resorts linked to alcohol consumption, particularly accidents on the slopes, mostly among young people.

"We are telling our compatriots to be careful: when you consume too much alcohol at an altitude and it's cold, the danger is greater," he added.