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Heat wave expected to roll across Switzerland

After a tentative start to spring, marred by heavy rain and flooding in parts of the country, Switzerland is preparing for a heat wave this week.

Published: 1 June 2015 11:15 CEST

Heat wave expected to roll across Switzerland

Photo: Lykaestria

Temperatures are forecast to rise in the canton of Valais from highs of 26 degrees on Monday to above 30C in the canton of Valais on Thursday, where the mercury is expected to jump to 33C on Friday, MeteoSwiss, the national weather office said.

Elsewhere in the country, by the end of the week it should reach 31C from one end of the country to the other in Geneva, Basel and Chur (in the canton of Graubünden), the office said on Monday.

Zurich is expected to see a high of 30C, while Bern can expect a maximum reading of 29C on Friday, MeteoSwiss said.

See also: PLACES TO AVOID SWIMMING IN SWITZERLAND

The warm weather is expected to persist through the weekend although thunderstorms are possible in some regions.

The return to summery conditions follows an erratic spring with temperatures higher than average in May (by 0.7 degrees), April (up 1.4 degrees) and March (1.2 degrees), MeteoSwiss said.

However, there was less sunshine and more rain, the office said.

Sion, the capital of Valais, recorded the highest rainfall in 150 years.

The canton also experienced extremes in the middle of the month, recording a high of 30 degrees on May 13th, followed a day later by a high of 15 degrees while snow fell at an altitude as low as 550 metres.

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Will Switzerland be visited by 'Ice Saints' this year?

From May 11th to the 15th, a meteorological event takes place each year in Switzerland.

It “observes”, though admittedly not on scientific basis, a centuries-old weather phenomenon called “Ice Saints”.

What exactly is it?

As its name suggests, it is related to saints, as well as ice and frost.

The saints in question are St Mamertus, St Pancras, St Servatius and St Boniface.

According to a weather lore, once these Ice Saints have passed through Switzerland in the middle of May, frost will no longer pose a threat to farmers and their land.

As the official government meteorological service MeteoSwiss explains it, “spring frosts have been a regular occurrence for centuries, giving rise to the traditional belief that a blast of cold air often arrives in the middle of May. Over time, this piece of weather lore became known as the Ice Saints.”

Fact versus myth

You may be wondering whether the Ice Saints lore actually has basis in reality.

Records, which date back to 1965 and originate from the Geneva-Cointrin, Payerne, and Zurich-Kloten weather stations, “clearly show that, over the long-term average, frost directly above the soil is only a regular occurrence up until the middle of April”, MeteoSwiss says. “After that, the frequency with which ground frost occurs progressively declines to almost zero by the end of May.”

“We can conclude, therefore, that there is no evidence in Switzerland to confirm the Ice Saints as a period in May when ground frost is more common.”

However, MeteoSwiss does concede that “ground frost is nevertheless a regular occurrence throughout May as a whole…having occurred at least once or twice in May every year, and in around 40 percent of the years there were more than two days in May with ground frost.”

What about this year?

MeteoSwiss weather forecast for the next seven days indicates that, this year too, no frost will be present on the ground in mid-May.

In fact, temperatures through much of Switzerland will be in double digits, reaching between 18C and 25C, depending on the region.

You can see what to expect in your area, here.

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