The Sedivackuv Long, one of the toughest dog sled races in Europe, has been cut short by warm weather.

The 20th edition began with more than 100 mushers and 700 dogs from eight countries competing in what was expected to be deep snow and freezing conditions in the Orlicke Mountains, a range in the north-eastern Czech Republic that forms the border with Poland.

In the three-day race competitors were expected to cross 240 kilometres and spend one night sleeping out in the snow.

Yet temperatures on the first day of the race were well above 0C and things got worse the next day. The course was a soupy mess of slushy ice and fog in the higher elevations, and portions of the lower course had no snow at all after afternoon rain washed it away.

As a result, the organisers cut the race short due to a lack of snow for the first time in 20 years after only 96 kilometres.