Skiers trapped in wildly swinging chairlift as Storm Eleanor sweeps Europe

'The guests were always safe, the safety bars and bubble were always closed'

The terrifying moment that skiers were stuck in a chairlift swinging violently because of strong winds brought on by Storm Eleanor, has been captured on video.

Shot at the Silvretta Montafon ski resort in Austria, staff attempted to climb up the lift system to free the stranded people.

But they were forced to cling on as high winds and the snow storm buffets them.

No one was injured in the incident and the chairlift's managing director Martin Oberhammer told the Voralberg ORF radio station that the skiers had never been in danger.

"The guests were always safe, the safety bars and bubble were always closed," he said.

Storm Eleanor has swept across northern Europe, killing at least four people and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes.

A skier died after being hit by a falling tree in the French Alps, where dangerous conditions have led to the closure of several resorts.

Firefighters in the region also said a woman in her 90s had died of a heart attack in Crets-en-Belledonne after her home was engulfed by flood waters.

Two people were also killed on the Basque coast in northern Spain’s when they were swept away by a wave.

Meanwhile, in Switzerland, eight people were injured when strong winds overturned a railway carriage.

The storm has also caused widespread damage to buildings in Germany and the Netherlands.