Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

WEATHER

Swiss heatwave follows rain and wind storms

After a cool spring, torrential rains, flooding and wind storms, Switzerland is now sweating it out through a heatwave.

Published: 17 June 2013 21:47 CEST
Swiss heatwave follows rain and wind storms
Photo: Lykaestria

The mercury rose to 36 degrees on Monday afternoon in Saint Maurice in the canton of Valais, setting the record high for the country, according to Meteomedia.

But temperatures rose above 30 degrees in plenty of other locations in Valais and German-speaking Switzerland, the weather news service reported.

Thermometers soared to 34.5 degrees in Sion, the capital of Valais, and up to 34.4 degrees in Delémont, the capital of the canton of Jura.

Basel recorded a high of 34 degrees, Zurich 33, Berne and Lucerne 32 and Geneva 30, according to MeteoSwiss, the national weather office.

The weather is expected to be a degree or two hotter on Tuesday as warm air from North Africa continues to funnel up to the Alpine country.

Eastern France is also expected to experience extreme heat with highs of 37 degrees or more in Alsace.

If it’s any consolation for those without air conditioning, the temperatures in Switzerland remain short of records for this time of year.

MeteoSwiss said highs around the country were between one and three degrees lower than those set in 2003, a year known for its torrid summer.

And the heatwave is expected to be short-lived, with highs falling back by 10 to 12 degrees by Thursday.

In the meantime, swimming pools and beaches around the country that were empty a couple of weeks ago have regained newfound popularity.

With rain forecast for next weekend, bathers have to jump at the opportunity.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

WEATHER

IN PICTURES: ‘Exceptional’ Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Published: 8 April 2024 14:15 CEST
IN PICTURES: 'Exceptional' Sahara dust cloud hits Europe

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Mark Parrington, senior scientist at Copernicus, said the latest event was related to a weather pattern that has brought warmer weather to parts of Europe in recent days.

“While it is not unusual for Saharan dust plumes to reach Europe, there has been an increase in the intensity and frequency of such episodes in recent years, which could be potentially attributed to changes in atmospheric circulation patterns,” he said.

This latest episode has caused air quality to deteriorate in several countries, Copernicus said.

The European Union’s safe threshold for concentrations of PM10 — coarser particles like sand and dust that that can irritate the nose and throat — has already been exceeded in some locations.

A picture taken on April 8, 2024 shows a rapeseed field under thick sand dust blown in from the Sahara, giving the sky a yellowish appearance near Daillens, western Switzerland. – An “exceptional” dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent’s climate monitor said, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

The worst affected was the Iberian Peninsula in Spain but lesser air pollution spikes were also recorded in parts of Switzerland, France and Germany.

READ ALSO:

Local authorities in southeastern and southern France announced that the air pollution threshold was breached on Saturday.

They advised residents to avoid intense physical activity, particularly those with heart or respiratory problems.

The dust outbreak was expected to reach Sweden, Finland and northwest Russia before ending on Tuesday with a shift in weather patterns, Copernicus said.

The Sahara emits between 60 and 200 million tonnes of fine dust every year, which can travel thousands of kilometres (miles), carried by winds and certain meteorological conditions.

The Spanish Canary Islands off the coast of northwest Africa saw just 12 days within a 90-day period from December to February where skies were free of Saharan dust, the local weather agency Aemet had reported.

SHOW COMMENTS