Two British skiers who died in an avalanche in the French Alps have been named as Stuart Leslie and Shaun Overy.

The pair were part of a group of five people, accompanied by an instructor, skiing off-piste in Val d’Isère in south-east France on Friday when they were swept away by falling snow.

A French national who was skiing alone was also killed, while another British skier survived.

France’s national weather service had issued a red alert for avalanche risk on Thursday – only the third time such a warning has been given in the 25 years since the system was introduced, according to Le Monde.

Leslie, 46, who regularly posted on social media about his skiing adventures, is believed to have been friends with Overy, 51, who ran a plumbing company in Wimbledon.

Paying tribute to Leslie on social media, friend Craig Hunter said: “We have lost a true legend – our beautiful Stuart.”

“He lived life to the absolute maximum – he packed 10 men’s lives into one. He squeezed everything out of every moment.

“When we skied together, he was at his happiest. He always said there was no better feeling in life, skiing fresh powder was pure freedom.”

Benoît Bachelet, the Albertville prosecutor, said a manslaughter investigation had been launched. The ski instructor, who was uninjured, tested negative for drugs.

This incident follows the death of another British skier in his 50s in an avalanche at the nearby La Plagne resort in January.

Thirteen backcountry skiers, climbers and hikers died in the Italian mountains in the first week of February amid unstable snow conditions.

A train was derailed by a snow slide in Switzerland on Monday as large areas of the western Alps remained under a high risk of avalanche.