Swiss Glaciers Reach Second-Earliest Loss Day as Heatwave Melts Winter Snow

All snow and ice that accumulated on Swiss glaciers during the past winter is expected to have melted away by Monday, according to the head of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland. The date marks the second-earliest arrival of the annual tipping point known as glacier loss day. The only earlier occurrence since 2000 took place on 26 June 2022.

Network chief Matthias Huss told AFP that melt rates across the Alps are enormous. Multiple Swiss weather stations set new all-time temperature records during the current heatwave. Huss said he observed one metre of vertical ice loss on the Rhone Glacier in the ten days since his previous visit.

He described the pace as very impressive and attributed it directly to the heatwave. The same statement noted that May temperatures had already removed the snowpack earlier than usual. Huss added that 2026 conditions are surprisingly similar to the record-setting 2022 season.

Swiss glaciers have been retreating for about 170 years, with the rate accelerating in recent decades. Their total volume shrank 38 percent between 2000 and 2024. Switzerland has lost 1,200 glaciers in the past 50 years and now has 1,300 remaining. Huss said that if warming continues at recent rates, only small remnants of ice will remain by 2100.

Much of the water feeding the Rhine and Rhone rivers originates from Alpine glaciers. Continued early loss of seasonal snow therefore reduces summer runoff into both river systems.