GENEVA: Much of the Alps don't look right for this time of year. Sparse snowfall and unseasonably warm winter weather in much of Europe is causing grass to blanket mountaintops, causing headaches for ski slope operators and aficionados of Alpine white.
Patches of grass, rock and dirt were visible on Monday January 2 in some of Europe s skiing meccas - like Innsbruck in Austria, Villars-sur- Ollon and Crans-Montana in Switzerland and Germany s Lenggries and far beyond. The dearth of snow has revived concerns about the rise in temperature linked to climate change.
Many parts of Europe were enjoying short-sleeve weather, on a swath from France to Poland, but with the Alps at the centre. A weather map shows Poland racking up daily highs in the double digits Celsius range in recent days.
It is a contrast to the frigid weather and blizzards in parts of the United States last year.
Swiss state forecaster MeteoSuisse pointed out some of the hottest temperatures this time of year. A weather station in Delemont, in the Jura range of the French border, has just hit a record daily temperature of 18.1 degrees Celsius on the first day of the year, more than 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record high for January. Other cities and towns followed suit with records.
MeteoSuisse said on its blog: This turn of the new year could make you forget that it's the height of winter.