Switzerland's 'wake-up call' as glaciers melt in record-breaking summer

Reflective polyester fleece blankets are being used in some areas to try and combat melting ice. ( Reuters: Pierre Albouy )

Scientists in Switzerland have warned global warming is having a dire effect on the country's glaciers.

New research claims more than 5 per cent of Swiss ice volume has melted this year alone.

Glaciologist Mattias Huss told the ABC "we need to stabilise global warming" in order for the ice to recover.

Europe's record-breaking summer, after a winter of little snow, has led to "staggering" melting on Switzerland's famous glaciers, with more than 5 per cent of the country's ice melting in 2026.

That is according to a new report released by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation of the Swiss Academy of Sciences.

"Glaciers have already retreated continuously, more or less, over the past 100 years, but what we are seeing now is really unprecedented," Matthias Huss, the director of GLAMOS, told the ABC.

"We've seen glaciers disappearing, we've seen them retreating, shrinking enormously.

Copyright for this text belongs to ABC Australia.