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1. A study on glacial stream ecosystems was carried out in six regions across Europe, from Svalbard to the French Pyrenees. The main aim was to test the validity of the conceptual model of Milner & Petts (1994) with regard to the zonation of chironomids of glacier‐fed rivers along altitudinal and latitudinal gradient.

2. Channel stability varied considerably, both on the latitudinal and altitudinal scale, being lowest in the northern regions (Svalbard, Iceland and Norway) and the Swiss Alps. Water temperature at the upstream sites was always <2 °C.

3. There was a prominent difference in taxonomic richness between the Alpine and the northern European regions, with a higher number of taxa in the south. In all regions, the chironomid community was characterized by the genus Diamesa and the subfamily Orthocladiinae. Of a total of 63 taxa recorded, two (Diamesa bertrami and Orthocladius frigidus) were common in …