Swiss glaciers rapidly lose protective snow in punishing European heatwave

An expert says one Swiss glacier lost about 1.5m of ice in just two weeks of extreme heat

Tourists walk above the Rhone glacier in the direction of the ice cave covered with fleece blankets, to slow down melting, amid climate change in Obergoms, Switzerland, Jul 2, 2026. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

Snow on Swiss glaciers disappeared weeks earlier than usual this summer under the glare of a European heatwave, pitching the Alps into another year of heavy ice loss, scientists say.

Researchers say that on Jun 29, the Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland reached so-called "Glacier Loss Day" — the moment when snow accumulated over winter has melted away and glaciers begin shedding the ice below.

Matthias Huss, director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, said three months still remained this year for ice to melt that has taken decades or even centuries to build up.

"This is really a worrying situation," he said.

This year, two heatwaves that followed low winter snowfall helped accelerate "Glacier Loss Day" to its second-earliest date on record.

In 2022, it occurred three days earlier.

During June's heatwave, the melting water from glaciers across Switzerland could have filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool every six seconds for two weeks, Huss said.

"The glaciers are in a very bad state at this time of the year," Huss said. "We are almost as critical as in the record-breaking year 2022."

Huss said one monitoring site at the Rhone Glacier recorded a loss of about 1.5m of ice during two weeks of extreme heat.

Tourists visiting the glacier retreats said changes were impossible to ignore.

German tourist Harry Block, who has been visiting the Rhone Glacier for 50 years, became emotional at the sight of them.

"I can cry," he said, describing how the glacier, once 80m high, has shrunk. "Here you see climate change. This is climate change."