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WEATHER

Cold spell set to interrupt golden October weather

Switzerland has been experiencing unusually warm and sunny weather, but the month of October won’t set a new record as temperatures are set to dip this weekend.

Published: 20 October 2017 12:18 CEST
Cold spell set to interrupt golden October weather
Photo: swiss-image.ch/Romano Salis

October has seen day after day of temperatures reaching 20 degrees and above. Delémont, in the canton of Jura, enjoyed an unseasonable 25 degrees on Monday.

“That is exceptional for October,” Roland Mühlebach of meteorological service Meteo Schweiz told the Blick newspaper.

Normally the autumn month is known for fog in low-lying areas and sun in the mountains.

“The normal rule of thumb is grey below and blue above,” the meterologist said, attributing the good weather to extremely dry air and the absence of the typical cold bise wind.

October 2017 is on course to become the second warmest ever in Switzerland.

The warmest October on record is 2011 when the average temperature was measured at 13.3 degrees. This year’s average so far is 12.4 degrees.

“Because of the cold snap to come we will not match 2011’s level this year,” Mühlebach said.

A cold front is set to sweep across the country from the west on Saturday night.

In the space of a few hours, the temperature will drop from 21 to 12 degrees, Meteo Schweiz forecasts.

The cold front will bring rain, and snow will fall at higher levels.

Sunday will be cold, but Monday will see the lowest temperature – 10 degrees – before the thermometer starts to show a return to much warmer weather from Tuesday.

Mühlebach had good news for hikers: “From Wednesday the weather will be ideal for hiking in the mountains, with good visibility,” he told the Blick.

WEATHER

Will Switzerland be visited by ‘Ice Saints’ this year?

Ascension is not the only annual happening in the country in May, as Switzerland also ‘celebrates’ another 'chilling' event this month.

Published: 8 May 2024 14:20 CEST
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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