Second-worst year on record
Switzerland's glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume in 2026, according to GLAMOS, the national glacier monitoring network. Only 2022 was worse, when dust blown in from North Africa settled on the snow and sped up melting.
A winter with too little snow left a thin protective layer on the ice. Record summer temperatures then stripped that away. Average ice thickness fell by 2.5 to 4 metres. On the tongues of some glaciers, up to 10 metres disappeared.
Records fall across the Alps
Several glaciers recorded their largest melt since measurements began, including the Allalin, Clariden, Rhone and Aletsch. Aletsch is the largest glacier in the Alps. Researchers dumped red dye into meltwater streams to track how water moves through cracks and channels inside the ice.
Over the past five years, Swiss glaciers have shed almost a fifth of their ice. Matthias Huss, director of GLAMOS, said the pace is no longer a surprise, but the sight of bare rock where snow once lay is still hard to accept.
Why it matters beyond Switzerland
Switzerland is often called the water tower of Europe. Its glaciers feed the Rhine, Rhone, Po and Danube, which supply drinking water, farms, factories and hydropower plants in several countries. Meltwater also cools and dilutes rivers in summer.
That buffer is shrinking. The Rhine reached record low levels in places this summer, which restricted shipping and raised transport costs. Huss said meltwater is old water stored in ice for decades, and once it is gone it cannot be replaced in the next heatwave. The report was published by Swiss authorities and covered widely by international media.