He talks lyrically of hill farmers on high mountain pastures, whose grazing herds prevent avalanches and provide jobs in remote villages.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

Meanwhile, wardens and estate workers from Snowdonia National Park say they will help bury around 40 Carneddau mountain ponies, which have died in the snow while grazing on the slopes on the Aber and Llanfairfechan mountains.

BBC: Snow-hit farmers allowed more time to bury dead animals

This is why I have come here: to ride through the remote Tian-Shan (Celestial Mountains) mountain range along ancient routes and through wide high-altitude pastures, known as jailoos, where shepherds have been grazing livestock for centuries.

BBC: The way of the shepherd: Horse trekking through Kyrgyzstan