Waters from high-altitude alpine lakes are mainly recharged by meteoric water. Because of seasonal variations in precipitation and temperature and relatively short hydraulic residence times, most high-altitude lakes have lake water isotopic compositions (δ18Olake) that fluctuate due to seasonality in water balance processes. Input from snowmelt, in particular, has a significant role in determining lake water δ18O. Here we compare two high-resolution δ18Odiatom records from lake sediments in the Swedish Scandes with instrumental data from the last century obtained from nearby meteorological stations. The time period AD 1900–1990 is characterised by an increase in winter precipitation and high winter/summer precipitation ratios and this is recorded in δ18Odiatom as decreasing trends. Lowest δ18Odiatom values and highest amount of winter precipitation are found around AD 1990 when the winter North Atlantic Oscillation index was above +2. We conclude that for the last 150 a the main factor affecting the δ18Odiatom signal in these sub-Arctic high-altitude lakes with short residence times has been changes in amount of winter precipitation and that δ18Odiatom derived from high-altitude lakes in the Swedish Scandes can be used as a winter precipitation proxy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.