Temperatures Warm up in the Alps After Some Heavy Snow
26th October 2026
It is warmer this week as the dozen open glacier ski areas benefited from last week’s snow. Check out the latest… NEW
The weather in the Alps is set to be more settled this week with the freezing level up to 4,000m on Tuesday.
The temperature will then fall but there is no snow in the forecast.
“The last few days have seen some very unsettled weather in the Alps but with highly variable temperatures,” said Fraser Wilkin from weathertoski.co.uk on Monday 26th October.
“The net result has been some significant accumulations of snow at high altitude, meaning potentially good snow conditions for many of the glaciers right now and over the coming days.
“Lower down, there was plenty of rain yesterday, which has melted much of the lower-lying snow, especially in the north-western Alps, although these yo-yoing temperatures and rapidly changing snowlines are normal for the time of year.
“Note that the natural snowline right now is lower in the eastern Alps – where rain was less of an issue.”
Last week saw the first significant snowstorms of the approaching winter.
Much is now melting but it is a taste of what’s to come and a very welcome top-up for the glacier resorts that are open in the Alps.
The freezing level has dropped to around 1,500m across many parts of the Alps last week.
The first avalanche of the season that has caught skiers happened near Alpe d’Huez in France.
Three ski tourers were on the Saint-Sorlin-d’Arves glacier when two of them were caught.
One was carried 150m down the mountain.
The emergency services rescued them and the pair suffered minor injuries.
“They miraculously did not end up in a crevasse or buried,” said one of the rescuers.
“Avalanche rescue on October 22nd is not common.”
Glacier areas now open in the Alps:
- Hintertux, Austria
- Pitztal, Austria
- Soelden, Austria
- Stubai, Austria
- Kaunertal, Austria
- Kitzsteinhorn, Austria
- Engelberg, Switzerland
- Diavolezza Glacier (St Moritz), Switzerland
- Saas-Fee, Switzerland
- Zermatt/Cervinia, Switzerland/Italy.
- Val Senales, Italy
- Passo Stelvio, Italy
Zermatt/Cervinia has some of the best conditions after 30cm fell in the recent storms, while Soelden and Hinterux in Austria have the most terrain open.
There are a handful of ski areas open in Scandinavia.
In Finland Levi and Ruka are open using snow stored from last winter.
In Sweden, Klappen has its snowpark open using snow from last season.
In Norway Gladhopiggen Glacier is open but only for race teams.
Winter may still be some way off, but it is getting closer by the day and our posts on PlanetSKI are turning to the season of 2026/27.
Ski resorts & companies are also releasing news for the coming winter:
- Innsbruck’s 26/27 Ski Plus City Pass
- What’s new in Verbier for next winter?
- See what’s new at Alpine Fleet for next winter
- Interest in complimentary ski guiding from VIP SKI rises
- Inghams Ski expands ski programme for next winter
- VIP SKI aims to boost skier’s confidence
- Austria looks forward to next winter
- Iglu Ski unveils what’s new for next winter
- Luxury Chalet Company reveals what’s new for next winter
We also have a special section on the website containing all the news for next season:
New for the 2026/27 Ski Season
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