Compared with average levels recorded between 2010 and 2020, winter 2025–26 shows an average snow deficit on Swiss glaciers of 25%, according to GLAMOS.
Keystone-SDA
Swiss glaciers received little snow this winter, with sizeable deficits in the Upper Valais, Ticino and Graubünden regions – a shortfall that could accelerate glacier melt this summer.
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A warm and dry April partly explains the low snow cover, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) said on Friday. Last month, the organisation measured winter snow accumulation on 25 glaciers across Switzerland.
Compared with average levels recorded between 2010 and 2020, winter 2025–26 shows an average snow deficit of 25%, according to GLAMOS. Glaciers in the Bernese Oberland and central Valais regions were less affected and remain close to long‑term averages.
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Snow cover plays a key role in determining how glaciers fare during the summer melt season. If winter snow does not melt completely, glaciers can gain mass; if it does, they lose it.
Widespread shortfall
By the end of April, the snow water equivalent on most Swiss glaciers was well below average. In the vast majority of regions, fresh snow levels were lower than those measured in early spring 2025.
Looking back over the past two decades, only four winters have recorded less glacier snowfall than the one just ended. In 2022 and 2023, deficits were similar to those seen this year, and both summers saw heavy glacier losses.
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“The outlook for this summer is bad,” glaciologist Matthias Huss told the Keystone‑SDA news agency. Fresh snow acts as a protective blanket, reflecting sunlight and slowing melt, he explained.
If that snow disappears early, darker ice and debris are exposed. This reduces the albedo effect, causing the glacier surface to absorb more solar energy and heat up faster – a process that further accelerates melting, Huss said.
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Adapted from French by AI/sb
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