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WEATHER

Jet stream brings warmer Swiss conditions

Winter is still holding a tenacious grip on many parts of Switzerland, well past the official start of spring last month, but weather forecasters are finally promising relief this weekend.

Jet stream brings warmer Swiss conditions
Photo: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images

Temperatures are set to hit as much as 20 degrees this weekend in parts of the country for the first time this year, bringing an end to what has been a cooler than usual start to the shoulder season.

With snow sitting heavy in the mountains above 1,000 metres, the mercury is expected to start heading upwards on Thursday.

Since March 20th, the jet stream, bringing warm air from the west, has flowed well south of Switzerland, exposing the mountain country to cool air from eastern Europe, aided by the bise, a cold wind from the northeast, MeteoSwiss, the national weather office said.

“This week finally, the western current will finally return to a more normal route,” the weather office said in a statement.

Mild, moist air is set to blow across the country on Thursday, while a high pressure system with clear skies is expected to move into place on Sunday bringing high temperatures ranging from 17 to 20 degrees, MeteoSwiss said. 

In the southeren Alps, it should rise to between 18 and 20 degrees on Saturday, according to forecasts.

There is still a risk of snow at higher elevations in the Alps in the next few days.

But the limit for precipitation falling as snow is set to rise to 3,000 metres from the current 1,000 to 2,000 metres by the weekend, meteorologist Christine Jutz from public broadcaster SRF told the ATS news agency.

Milder, spring-like weather is expected to continue across Switzerland through next week.

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SKIING

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

Two cross-country skiers have been killed in an avalanche near the plush resort of Klosters in southeast Switzerland, police said Saturday.

Two skiers killed in Swiss avalanche

The accident happened on Friday, the Graubunden regional police said.

“In the Schintersiten area they took a slope with a steep gradient,” a police statement said.

“Several avalanches broke out and dragged the two men about 200 metres down the rocky terrain.

“As a result, both the 54-year-old and his 57-year-old companion, both of whom lived in the canton of Bern, were fatally injured.”

The Graubunden public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation alongside the cantonal police.

Before Friday’s accident, 12 people had lost their lives in avalanches in Switzerland since October 1 last year, according to statistics from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.

A total of 142 avalanche-related accidents have occurred, with 188 people swept away.

Earlier this month, six cross-country skiers went missing in a storm near the southern luxury resort of Zermatt. The group, aged 21 to 58, included five members of the same family.

Five bodies were recovered and the search for the sixth person was ultimately called off.

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