Fourth Summer Heatwave Hits the Alps

26th July 2026

Last modified on August 6th, 2026

It was slightly cooler last weekend in the Alps, but that has now changed as the temperatures have risen.

The ski area of Zermatt-Cervinia has been forced to suspend summer skiing and it shut on Saturday 1st August as we have reported:

Zermatt-Cervinia Closes its Summer Glacier Ski Area as Latest Heatwave Hits

Two glacier areas in the Alps remain open for skiing and snowboarding:

• Saas-Fee (Switzerland)
• Passo Stelvio (Italy)

Saas-Fee says only two of its four drag lifts are operating and Passo Stelvio has seen another warm week though it has seen some light snow at altitude.

“Snow conditions on the few glaciers currently open for summer skiing are less than ideal, with Hintertux having closed last weekend, a week earlier than its scheduled 26 July finish,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk.

Earlier this month Tignes ended skiing ahead of its planned closing date as the hot weather took its toll.

Grande Motte glacier, Tignes. August 2026. Image c/o David Morgan.

There has been a small amount of snow at altitude in places in the past few days.

“Fundamentally though, the glaciers are in very poor condition for late July, with no guarantee that those scheduled to remain open for the rest of the summer will be able to do so,” added Fraser.

Here on PlanetSKI we have been reporting on the impact of the hot summer on the mountains in Europe:

• Another heatwave hits summer ski areas

The glaciers in the Alps are melting significantly.

The Grande Motte glacier in Tignes sits  at an altitude of 3,700m and has been melting over the past few years at an increasingly rapid rate due to warming.

Besides the impact on skiing, the melting has created a glacial lake, whose overflowing, could pose a risk to the ski resort of Tignes that lies below the glacier.

As a result, measures such as siphoning, digging a channel and pumping have been taken to reduce the water volume in this lake.

The hot weather has affected many climbing routes, including the popular ones on the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mont Blanc in France and Italy.

Mountain guides in Zermatt are advising climbers to postpone attempts on the summit of the Matterhorn because of an increased risk of rockfall.

High temperatures and poor winter snowfall have left parts of the mountain unstable.

The was a large rockfall this week on the Italian side of the peak above the ski resort of Cervinia.

“This morning there was a large landslide from a conoid on the southern wall of Cervino (Italian name for the Matterhorn).

“The phenomenon, at about 3,900 meters in elevation, affected an area generally unattended by climbers and, as I learned, did not involve people.

“The collapse was monitored by the staff of the Valle d’Aosta Forest Corps.”

 

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Elsewhere in Italy guides in Courmayeur have stopped taking clients up Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco on the classic route via the Miage glacier.

“With the heat we had in June, conditions deteriorated quickly. It’s no longer safe enough to take clients up there,” said the President of the Courmayeur Guides Society, Alex Campedelli.

“The glacier is full of crevasses and it’s hard to find the right route.

“We decided last week we won’t sell that ascent to clients anymore.”

Mont Blanc, France. Image © PlanetSKI

It is reported that some guides in Chamonix have stopped taking people up Mont Blanc after two people died on the mountain last Wednesday.

“On the Mont Blanc and Matterhorn routes, we simply need to have the humility to stop them for a while,” said Pierre Mathey of the Swiss Association of Mountain Guides (ASGM) to the AFP newsagency.

“This heatwave is dragging on and we’re seeing significant warming of the ground, snow and ice are melting, and the permafrost is thawing.”

This causes rockfalls and other hazards.

In the Alps there is also a high risk of wildfire in some areas as the drought continues.

The mountains in the French Alps are experiencing wildfires, but no ski resort has yet been directly impacted.

The largest blaze is burning in the southern French Alps in the Ecrin National Park.

500 hectares have burned, and it is said to be the largest wildfire in the Hautes-Alpes in the past 50 years.

It is reported that the blaze is under control.

A local mayor in the area has said “a few seconds of inattention can have dramatic consequences” for local communities, landscapes, and natural heritage.

The authorities are urging locals and visitors to the mountains to respect all fire restrictions.

Here is the scene in Switzerland, with light red meaning ‘high risk’, and dark red indicating ‘very high risk’:

Risk of wildfires in Switzerland. Image c/o Baku.

In Switzerland all 26 cantons have issued restrictions or bans on outdoor fires.

In Fribourg, barbecues are prohibited even in designated public grilling areas.

Winterthur in the canton of Zurich has banned all forms of open fire, including private charcoal barbecues.

The traditional fireworks displays for Switzerland’s National Day on August 1st are also under  threat.

“The wildfire season started early,” said a wildfire expert at the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos, Julia Miller.

“The peak will likely occur in August, typically the hottest month, but September and October could also remain dry and conducive to fires.”

According to the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment humans cause 90% of wildfires mainly by carelessness or negligence such as a discarded cigarette or a campfire not properly extinguished.

Lightning can also spark forest fires.

Related Articles

• European heatwave hit the glaciers in the Alps 
• European heatwave hits glaciers hard
• ‘Glacier Loss Day’ in the Alps reached

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