'Devastating year' as Swiss glaciers shed 5% of ice amid record-breaking heatwaves

Glaciers in Switzerland have lost 5.5% of their ice volume in 2026 after a "devasting year" marked by intense heatwaves and low snowfall, according to a study.

The authors say they have "no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions" and climate change is "100%" to blame.

The findings come in a report by the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) based on data from the Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS).

Around 2,200 billion litres of water - more than four times the Swiss national consumption - was released by the melting glaciers between July and September.

Over the last five years, the report says ice on Swiss glaciers has reduced in volume by nearly a fifth and some smaller ones have been lost altogether.

The Aletsch glacier, the largest in the Alps, experienced its biggest melt on record in 2026 - as did the Rhone and Clariden glaciers.

"The warming that we are experiencing now can be attributed 100% to anthropogenic climate change. It's as simple as that," said Matthias Huss, who leads GLAMOS.

"Without human emissions or fossil fuels we wouldn't have any warming at the moment."

Mr Huss said the lack of snow was a key factor as it protects the ice from melting and also generates "new food for the glacier".

"The more snow you have, the higher the potential to keep some of the snow at high elevation and to form new ice," he added.

The series of heatwaves experienced over much of Europe had a profound effect on Alpine temperatures.

Switzerland had its hottest summer on record and the study says "intermittent cooler phases did not exist".

For 76 days, it helped push the freezing point in the Swiss mountains to elevations above 4,000m - more than twice the average and a Swiss record.

There was no snow on the glaciers - even as high as 3,500m - by September, and their thickness declined between 2.5m to 4m on average.

Some glacier tongues lost 10m over the summer.

Twenty-three glaciers were studied for the report, which looked at the ice mass lost between October 2025 and September 2026.

The overall mass balance was the lowest ever recorded, apart from 2022.

The thaw going on in the Swiss Alps is not unique; the receding of glaciers has been documented in mountain ranges around the world.

Global warming has also been blamed for August's disaster in Nepal, when a Himalayan slope collapsed and triggered deadly flooding.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'Devastating year' as Swiss glaciers shed 5% of ice amid record-breaking heatwaves