ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / RankWire.AI / – In 2026, Switzerland’s glaciers experienced a 5.5% reduction in ice volume, marking the second-largest decline ever recorded. This significant loss was driven by a winter with minimal snowfall and a summer characterized by extreme heat. Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, known as GLAMOS, tracked these changes across the Swiss Alps, while the Swiss Academy of Sciences also confirmed the national findings. Over the past five years, nearly 20% of Switzerland’s glacier mass has vanished.
The winter of 2025 to 2026 was among Switzerland’s ten least snowy since records began. Hot and arid conditions persisted from May to September, with the freezing level rising above 4,000 metres on 76 days—the warm season’s highest count, more than doubling the average and setting a Swiss record. By September, no snow remained at elevations around 3,500 metres, exposing glacier ice in high Alpine regions.
During the 2026 measurement period, average glacier thickness declined between 2.5 and 4 metres, with some glaciers losing as much as 10 metres of ice. Several major glaciers, including the Allalin, Clariden, Great Aletsch, and Rhône, experienced their most substantial melt since monitoring began. These losses placed 2026 just behind 2022, which remains Switzerland’s most severe glacier melt year in the record.
Smaller Swiss glaciers vanish as ice loss accelerates
Complete disappearance was observed in several smaller Swiss glaciers, such as Bella Tola in Valais and Griessfirn in Glarus. Their disappearance is part of a broader trend of decline across Swiss Alpine ice fields, with glacier volume decreasing by nearly one-fifth since 2021. This extensive loss aligns with repeated years of low snowfall and intense summer melting across much of the Swiss Alps.
The melting glaciers released large amounts of water during the dry summer months, totaling around 2.2 trillion litres from July to September—more than four times the annual drinking-water needs of all Swiss households. This meltwater fed into Alpine rivers and water systems amid widespread summer dryness, illustrating how much glacier ice entered Switzerland’s water cycle in just three months of 2026.
Snowfall deficits and summer heat influenced the 2026 melting season
Although the 2026 melt was below the record set in 2022, the year’s snow conditions partly explain this. Many glaciers started summer with slightly more snow than in 2022, and fewer Saharan dust deposits on the snow helped. Cleaner snow reflects more sunlight, whereas dust-darkened surfaces absorb more solar energy, potentially increasing melting under similar conditions.
Despite these factors, the 2026 data reveal significant ice loss at both high elevations and lower glacier tongues. This season added yet another year of notable decline to Switzerland’s long-term glacier record. Field surveys, snow measurements, and mass-balance observations documented extensive ice reduction, disappearance of smaller glaciers, and major thickness declines. The year 2026 ranks among the most severe for Swiss glacier melt to date.