Chamonix, France (Enmaeya News) — In a rare and alarming event, temperatures on Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, rose to 3.7°C (38.7°F) just below the summit on June 28.

This is the first time ever that the mountain’s summit, which is 4,807 meters (15,774 feet) high, experienced temperatures above 0°C (32°F).

Experts from France said that the “freezing level” — the height in the atmosphere where the temperature reaches freezing — went up to 5,136 meters (16,850 feet). That’s about 330 meters higher than Mont Blanc’s summit.

The readings were taken by Col Major weather station and Keraunos Observatory. Temperatures stayed above freezing all night, which is very unusual at such high altitude.

The rare event comes as Europe faces an unusually intense June heatwave. In some parts of the Iberian Peninsula, temperatures soared above 46°C (115°F), while France, Italy, and Spain issued extreme heat alerts. In Paris, officials closed the top floor of the Eiffel Tower after the city reached 39°C (102°F). Wildfires have also been reported in parts of southern Europe and North Africa.

Climate scientists say that alpine regions like the Alps are warming nearly twice as fast as the global average. The rising temperatures are accelerating glacier melt, disrupting local ecosystems, and increasing the risk of floods due to earlier snowmelt.

The above-freezing temperatures at such high altitudes highlight how quickly climate change is reshaping mountain environments once thought to be permanently frozen.