Skiers had been stranded in the resort because of heavy snowfall and exceptional risk of avalanches

Helicopters have airlifted stranded holidaymakers from the upmarket Swiss ski resort of Zermatt after about 13,000 tourists were trapped in the mountain village for two days by heavy recent snowfall and an exceptional risk of avalanches.

Local police said the airlift was taking about 100 people an hour who urgently needed to leave Zermatt to the nearby village of Täsch, a three minute flight, from where rail replacement buses were available for their onward journey.

The resort said on its website that ski slopes, hiking paths and cable cars around the village remained closed. It advised people to follow instructions and stay at home so as not to hamper the ongoing clear-up operation.

A spokeswoman for the well-known winter sports resort near the Matterhorn mountain, Janine Imesch, said there was no immediate risk to “around 13,000 tourists” who remained there, approaching Zermatt’s maximum capacity.

Imesch said electricity in the village had now been restored after an earlier power cut, although the resort continued to warn of “possible power breakdowns all over Zermatt”. A further update was expected at 7pm local time.

“Everything is normal, everything is under control,” Imesch told the Guardian. “People are enjoying the snow, going shopping, eating and drinking. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. No one can go skiing or hiking, but it’s quiet, even a little bit romantic.”

Ben Kendall, who works for the Zermatt Bergbahnen cable car company, said people who had to leave were able to and the resort was “catering very well for the rest. We had another fresh dumping of snow today, so trains still aren’t running. Tourists cannot drive into Zermatt anyway.” Ski lifts should be open tomorrow, weather permitting, he said.

The access road to the car-free mountain village, which has a resident population of about 5,500, was closed on Monday morning because of the extreme avalanche risk and trains have been unable to reach the station since 5.30pm on Monday.

The avalanche risk around Zermatt and several other resorts in the south-western Valais region, including Saas-Fee, was raised to its maximum level of five on Monday night, the region’s president, Romy Biner-Hauser, said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Swiss resort of Zermatt is dominated by views of Matterhorn. Photograph: Visions Of Our Land/Getty Images

Biner-Hauser told the local newspaper Le Nouvelliste that some residents had been warned to keep their window shutters closed. The situation “is being monitored every half hour and if things change we will take the necessary measures”, she said.

A mild föhn wind has brought unseasonably high temperatures to lowland Switzerland, but areas above 1,400m altitude have seen well over a metre of snowfall in recent days, the Swiss broadcaster SRF said, with more forecast.

SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) #Lawinengefahr Stufe 5 von 5 im #Südwallis gemäss #SLF. Das letzte Mal gab es Stufe 5 vor 9 Jahren mit einer ähnlichen Wetterlage wie aktuell. Föhn aus Südost #Rofel brachte viel Neuschnee nach #Zermatt.@WSL_research #Schnee

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The Swiss federal institute for forest, snow and landscape research, WSL, warned on Monday night that fresh snowfall coming on top of quantities of old snow that had fallen over the Christmas and new year holiday period could provoke “numerous large and, in many cases, very large natural avalanches”.

It said such avalanches could reach “an exceptionally long way” and that exposed buildings and transport routes were endangered. “Extensive safety measures are to be maintained” particularly early in the day, it advised, although avalanche activity should decrease later.