Photos show ancient glaciers in the Alps covered in white blankets to protect them from the summer heat.
People visited the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland today, but did not see it as it generally looks.
Much of it is covered to try to keep it from melting.
Europe is currently sweltering under a major heat wave, with wildfires raging in Portugal, Spain and France.
Hot air from the continent will reach the UK from Sunday, with the Met Office issuing weather warnings of extreme heat.
However, the UV-resistant blankets were put there not just in response to this heat wave, but more generally because of a warming climate.
for five years, people have hiked up to the glacier to put the sheets on it to try to protect it.
The Rhone Glacier, above Gletsch at the Furka Pass, is an important source of tourism for the region as it is easily accessible and has a cave that can be visited.
It is the source of the Rhone River and also supplies water to Lake Geneva.
The blankets are estimated to reduce the rate of ice melting by up to 70%.
This is necessary, because in the past 120 years about 1,300 meters have been lost, leaving stone where there used to be ice.
It is feared that Switzerland could lose all of its glaciers by 2100.
Other glaciers in the country are also covered in blankets, such as the glacier on Mount Titlis in central Switzerland.
The Gurschengletscher Glacier is also covered with blankets when it is particularly at risk.
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