New Climate Report Paints Grim Picture for Europe
Europe is the fastest warming continent on Earth and is heating up by twice the global average.
Rapid warming in Europe is reducing snow and ice cover.
High air temperatures, drought, heatwaves and record ocean temperatures are affecting regions all areas including the mountain ranges of Europe.
The findings are in the European State of the Climate (ESOTC) 2025 report.
It is produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which implements the Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The report brings together the work of around 100 scientific contributors.
It provides a comprehensive overview of key changes in climate indicators in Europe.
Glaciers in all European regions saw a net mass loss, with Iceland recording its second-largest glacier loss on record.
Mont Fort glacier, Verbier. Image © PlanetSKI
Snow cover was 31% below average
The Greenland Ice Sheet lost 139 gigatonnes (139 billion tonnes) of ice.
The warming of the continent has an obvious impact on ski resorts.
This year the Austrian glacier resort on Hintertux announced it will be unable to offer skiing across the summer.
“After that, we’ll enjoy the glacier summer to the fullest off the slopes,” the resorts says on its web site.
PlanetSKI last skied in the summer in Hintertux in 2023:
Hintertux in the summer. Image © PlanetSKI
It has been closing on and off over the summer months for the last few years and is a concrete sign of climate change.
It follows Tignes that used to be open year-round, but stopped several years ago as climate change took its toll.
Zermatt in Switzerland is now the only alpine ski area that is open across the summer if the weather conditions allow.
Above-average temperature and below-average precipitation led to a significant loss of snow and ice cover in the mountain ranges of Europe.
In March 2025, the snow-covered area in Europe was about 1.32 million square kilometres (31%) below average – equivalent to the combined area of France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
This marked the third lowest snow extent since records began in 1983.
Related Articles:
- Fresh Warnings of Glacier Collapses as Climate Change Makes Mountains Unstable
- Alps set to lose record number of glaciers in next decade
- Italian glacier melt continues
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