Ski resorts across Europe are experiencing historically low levels of snow following a record-breaking warm winter.
Mid to late February is typically the peak season for winter sports, however, images of resorts across Austria, Bosnia and France show almost bare mountains, highlighting the striking shortage of snow, reports euronews.com.
Notable closures include:
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The popular resort Saint-Colomban-des-Villards in the French Alps has halted ski lift operations as it faces an average temperature of 13ᵒC compared to its usual 5ᵒC.
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The Artouste ski resort in the Pyrénées Atlantiques, famous for housing Europe’s highest train track, is temporarily closed.
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In Austria, Mutterer Alm in the Tyrolean area is closed indefinitely.
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The Women’s Ski Super G European Cup, due to be hosted in Bjelašnica, Bosnia, earlier this month, was cancelled due to a lack of snow.
According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), 2023 was the warmest year since global temperature data records began in 1850.
C3S’s 2023 Global Climate Highlights report, published in early January, recognised that 2023 saw an average global temperature of about 15ᵒC – 0,17ᵒC higher than the previous record high average global temperature in 2016. Furthermore, 2023 was 0,6ᵒC warmer than the 1991-2020 average and 1,48ᵒC warmer than the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.
