Another Heatwave Set to Hit the Alps
9th August 2026
In what will be the hottest summer on record in the Alps the next heatwave is on the way. Summer skiing is all but over, with the glaciers melting at an accelerating rate. NEW
We have reported on the impact on summer skiing, hiking and climbing in this earlier PlanetSKI article as the Swiss resort of Saas-Fee closes its glacier skiing area on Monday 10th August:
Image c/o Saas-Fee, Friday 7th August.
The longer-term impact is on the glaciers themselves.
In Switzerland the Rhône Glacier has lost more than four metres of ice in just one month after two periods of extreme heat in June and July.
According to Switzerland’s Glacier Monitoring Service, GLAMOS, the glacier has been melting at an average rate of around 10cms a day, with low winter snowfall leaving the ice especially vulnerable.
The Rhône Glacier in southern Switzerland has lost more than 4m of ice in a single month after successive heatwaves swept across Europe.
It highlights the growing impact of rising temperatures on Alpine glaciers.
Glaciologists say the combination of low winter snowfall and unusually high temperatures has left the ice exposed and vulnerable.
It raises concerns that 2026 could rival the record glacier losses recorded in 2022.
Researchers monitoring the site say the glacier is not only melting at the surface but also from below.
Flowing meltwater is carving out large cavities that weaken the ice from within.
Rhône Glacier. Image © ETH Zurich Chair of Glaciology
“This is a collapsing pit,” said the glaciologist and head of GLAMOS, Matthias Huss.
“The stream flowing beneath the glacier has carved out a large cavity.
“This cavity then collapsed.
“In recent years, we have been seeing more and more cases of glaciers melting from below, in addition to melting from above.
“These processes are eroding the glaciers from within.
“This is a major problem that is further accelerating the melting.”
The rapid retreat is transforming the landscape, with the lower sections of the Rhône Glacier expected to disappear within years if current trends continue.
“With these high melting rates, the glacier is retreating very rapidly,” Mattias Huss added.
“I think that in this area, there will be no more ice within 5 to 10 years.
“The glacier will only remain higher up on the mountain, where it’s colder and there’s more snow.”
Scientists say this year’s poor conditions began before the summer heat.
Below-average winter snowfall left glaciers without the protective snow cover that normally slows melting.
Then there were summer heatwaves in May, June, July and August across the Alps.
Grande Motte glacier, Tignes. August 2026. Image c/o David Morgan.
Images from space show the scale of the glacier melt elsewhere in the Alps.
The Adamello Glacier is the largest in the Italian Alps and sits on the plateau of Pian di Neve between Lombardy and Trentino.
The 2025–2026 winter brought little snow to the massif, exposing the glacier surface to solar radiation earlier than usual.
Conditions are deteriorating further during the heatwaves of summer 2026.
The freezing level rose to almost 5,000m, well above the highest summits, and the ice continued to melt even at night.
These Copernicus Sentinel-2 images, were taken on 7th August 2016 and 5th August 2026.
Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery
The image on the left shows a broad, continuous ice cover, bright white under late-summer snow.
In contrast, the image on the right reveals a darker surface of bare, debris-marked ice in pale grey tones, with the body of the glacier fully exposed.
Between the two acquisitions, the front of the Mandrone tongue, the glacier’s main outlet, has retreated by around 550m, according to the Italian Glaciological Foundation.
The largest glacier in Austria, the Pasterze glacier, continues to disappear at an accelerating rate.
Scientists warn it is likely to split into two sections this year as Europe’s heatwaves accelerate the melting.
Over the last 30 years the ice connecting the glacier’s lower and upper sections has melted away.
In the 1990s, it was nearly 300 meters thick.
Today, it’s barely visible beneath the gravel and sediment.
Extreme heat is accelerating that process, splitting the Pasterze in two and ending its position as Austria’s largest glacier.
Summer in the Alps is now not only hotter, but it is longer.
Twenty years ago, glacial melt was largely confined to July and August.
Now it can last from May through November, with up to 15cms of ice disappearing every snow-free day.
Related Articles:
- Fourth summer heatwave hits the Alps
- European heatwave hit the glaciers in the Alps
- European heatwave hits glaciers hard
- ‘Glacier Loss Day’ in the Alps reached
Mont Fort glacier, Verbier. Image © PlanetSKI
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