Article published by the independent guide to skiing and ski holidays Welove2ski.

If Fred Decker of the French website lameteo.org is on target, it looks as though we'll be having a cold, dry start to winter.

Anyone with a snowfall addiction will probably know of Decker already. He's our favourite French meteorologist - chiefly because he's not afraid to stick his neck out and have a go at forecasting up to six months in advance. His maps (see above for an example) are a lot, lot clearer than those produced by our own Met Office, too!

Decker worked for La Chaine Météo in France for 10 years before joining MétéoNews in 2006, and last year his long-term winter forecast was not too far wide of the mark. Check out our news story on it from October 12, 2007 here.

Back then, he was predicting a cold December, "with a greater chance of heavy snow in the second half of the winter". Sound familiar to anyone?

(Before we get too excited, however, it's also worth noting that he predicted February 2008 would be much colder than normal - whereas in fact the Alps were hit by a prolonged heat wave.)

Anyway, Decker has now extended his long-range forecast for Europe as far as January 2009, and as you can see, it looks as though it's going to be a cold one. He told welove2ski.com that he expects a lot of stable, sunny, but cold weather in late autumn and early winter - and thinks we're in for a re-run of the frigid autumn of 1993, although he says "it won't be quite as cold as it was back then".

This is, of course, mixed news for snowfiends. Cold is good. Dry is not brilliant. It suggests superb conditions for the snow-cannons, which will be able to get to work early this year, laying down a thick, durable base of snow on the pistes. But it could mean a slow start to the season in terms of powder.