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Finally: Switzerland set for spring temperatures this week

Maximums are expected to hit the magic 20C-mark on Tuesday in some places with Föhn winds dominating weather patterns.

Published: 3 April 2018 09:27 CEST
Finally: Switzerland set for spring temperatures this week
Two elderly Swiss women go for a walk in Grut. Photo: Tambako The Jaguar / Flickr Creative Commons.

After a cool and grey March marked by a distinct lack of sunshine in many parts of Switzerland, spring is set to finally gain a foothold in the coming days.

While maximums are expected to stay just below the 20C mark on Tuesday in most places, they are forecast to surpass this barrier on Tuesday in locations including Basel and Chur, according to SRF Meteo.

But the spring-like temperatures on Tuesday will be accompanied by strong winds in valleys where so-called Föhn conditions predominate.

These Föhn conditions periodically hit Switzerland and other parts of central Europe, warming the climate as moist winds off the Mediterranean Sea blow over the Alps.

Gusts of wind between 80 and 120 km/h were predicted for Monday and Tuesday. Storm warnings are in place for parts of central and eastern Switzerland.

The Föhn conditions in the north of the country at the beginning of the week will also mean somewhat wetter conditions for the south the country.

Spring will then take a short pause on Thursday with conditions becoming cooler and windy. The snow line will come down to 1,000 metres as the weather turns changeable.

However, the spring should arrive again on the weekend, with temperatures again hitting 20C, or perhaps even a touch higher, across most of the country.

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.

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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.

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