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WEATHER

Weather: Geneva and Lausanne activate their ‘extreme cold’ plan

Even though temperatures in the two Swiss cities have not dipped nearly as low as in northern Europe, they have put their cold weather plan into action.

Published: 8 January 2024 15:17 CET
Weather: Geneva and Lausanne activate their ‘extreme cold’ plan
It will be cold in Switzerland this week. Image by Dmitriy Gutarev from Pixabay

Although temperatures in both cities are not expected to drop much below the 0C mark, the wind blowing over the Lake Geneva region accentuates the chill factor, which will feel more like -8 to -12C, meteorologists say.

“Taking into account the weather forecasts for the coming days, Geneva has decided to activate its ‘Extreme Cold Plan’ from Monday January 8th, 2024, and for a minimum of three nights,” municipal authorities said in a press release.

The opening of a new Civil Protection shelter in the city will make it possible to accommodate 80 additional individuals — bringing the total of beds available to those affected by the cold to 581. 

As for Lausanne, “it is temporarily increasing its emergency reception capacity by 50 places in the Rouvraie shelter,  from Monday, January 8th, 2024,” the city said.

What is the situation elsewhere in Switzerland?

Temperatures at the start of the year are “colder than the norm,”  but still remain within the ‘normal’ parameters for the month of January, according to MeteoSwiss weather service.

Also to blame is the wind, which creates a much ‘colder’ feeling.

The freezing overnight temperatures caused a light snowfall in large parts of Switzerland.

This also has had an impact on the condition of the roads, with an increased risk of slipping and falling on ice.

Drivers are impacted by icy streets as well.

What is the forecast?

It will remain cold and largely below zero degrees in the coming days.

Temperatures above the freezing point are not expected until the weekend.

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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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