Five skiers have been found dead in the Swiss Alps after a group went missing in difficult conditions on Saturday.

A major rescue operation was launched after the group of six cross-country skiers – five of whom were from the same family – went missing over the weekend.

The group had set off on a ski tour from the Alpine town of Zermatt, Switzerland on Saturday.

Late last night, police said five bodies were found in the area of the Tête Blanche Mountain where the cross-country skiers went missing on Saturday.

They were found by a team of three rescue workers and a police officer at 9:20pm local time (8:20pm Irish time) on Sunday.

The sixth person is still missing and police said the search to find him is ongoing.

The six people, aged between 21 and 58, had set out on the Zermatt-Arolla path near the Matterhorn Mountain that straddles the Switzerland-Italy border.

The authorities added that a storm "raging in the south of the Alps and the risk of avalanches has prevented helicopters and rescuers from approaching the area".

The six skiers are from Switzerland's Valais canton.

Zermatt is a popular resort renowned for skiing while the Matterhorn is one of the best-known mountains in the Alps, standing 4,478m (14,692ft) tall.