The Swiss climate, at least where most of the people live in the Central Plateau, delivers a mixed bag of weather. There are sunny days, wet days and foggy days. We have falls of snow in winter, heatwaves in summer, hailstorms, and winds with quirky names – the warm Foehn and the cold Bise.

Yet for the sun-worshipping Swiss, the only right weather is sunny weather. The global climate crisis has had little to no effect on this obsession with being bathed in sunlight. The longing for sun runs deep in the Swiss psyche.

Who would want to be a weather forecaster in Switzerland? A big part of your job is to apologise to viewers or listeners that they are being denied their due dose of sun on that particular day. For 55 percent of daylight hours every year, the sun is behind the clouds, and that keeps everyone wanting more.

The weather men and women address the public as if their main purpose in life was pleasure seeking. It doesn’t matter how many days of drought the country has suffered; the focus will be on the possibility of spending the day outside in the sun.

Skiing without sun is considered a minor tragedy

Hikers, lake swimmers or skiers are their target audience. The poor famers don’t get a look in. Anyone temporarily and unjustly trapped beneath low fog, will be advised where they can escape to sunnier altitudes.

It is true that some regions of Switzerland are afflicted by long spells of low-lying fog. There I have more understanding for the sun fixation. These fog interludes occur from late autumn to spring, mostly along rivers and lakes where the air is very damp.

According to MeteoSwiss, the dry air of the north-easterly Bise causes low-lying fog to rise. Strong, persistent Bise wind can mean that the low cloud cover does not lift for several days or even weeks. It’s tantalising for some during those cold, grey days to know that the sun is shining above the stratus, not far away in the mountains.

For most of Swiss history, people avoided the mountains, unless they were unlucky enough to live on or near them. Now, thanks to tourist infrastructure first built for rich foreigners, the mountains are the playground of the Swiss, easily accessible in winter and summer.

But the first rule of a successful weekend is that it has to be sunny. Whatever activity you undertake, the first question people will ask is whether it was sunny. Skiing without sun is considered a minor tragedy. Little attention is paid to the harm of high temperatures and the regular problem of drought. Every day of sun is a win!

A nationwide epidemic of seasonal affective disorder?

In fact, there seems to be a general lack of awareness of how crucial precipitation is to the Swiss ecosystem, agriculture, water and energy supplies. Instead, every day of rain is greeted as an imposition.

Could it be that Swiss people have a physiological need that is driving all this? A nationwide epidemic of seasonal affective disorder? It doesn’t seem to be a version of SAD because the sun hunger is no less pronounced in the summer, when it is sunny more often than not.

Let’s not be too harsh. I’m not the Ebenezer Scrooge of sunny weather. While writing this article, the sun came out for the first time in many days. I was drawn outside for a break and I turned my face to the sky gratefully. It’s just that I don’t miss the sun terribly when it’s not here. I know it will always come back, and, eventually, with a vengeance. In the summer, I spend most of my time seeking shade.

One part of Switzerland is living the dream, where daylight hours are sunny more than 50 percent of the time. The rest of country looks enviously towards Ticino, known as the sun balcony of Switzerland, for its extra hours of sunlight. Not surprisingly, the canton on the south side of the Alps is the number one destination for domestic tourists.

Italy the top destination for Swiss residents seeking sun

There is a mass migration of Swiss to warmer climes in the summer. A 2022 survey by the insurer Generali showed that Italy was the top destination for Swiss residents taking holidays abroad (29%), followed by France (18%) and Spain (16%).

The inconsistency of Swiss weather is probably what wears people down and feeds the sun fixation. There is a perception that the summer should be warm and dry all the time but May to August is also when it rains the most.

The proximity to the Mediterranean doesn’t help. It’s frustrating to be so close to the European region with the ideal outdoor climate and to get a taste of that in your own backyard on some days but never often enough.

If I may advise, rather than fighting against reality, a little acceptance would take a lot of the frustration away. There’ll be plenty of dazzling days in the summer, don’t worry. It’s just that the pattern will be unpredictable. And, whether we like it or not, winter is actually meant to be a grey time, where we make our own light and find different joys. If it’s any consolation, the sun is always there, whether we can see it or not.