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Switzerland to see temperatures ‘up to 30C’

April has only just begun and Switzerland is already facing summer temperatures.

Published: 3 April 2024 10:30 CEST
Warmer temperatures are arriving in Switzerland
Warmer temperatures are arriving in Switzerland. (Photo by Nadine Marfurt on Unsplash)

It may feel slightly strange to think about shorts and T-shirts so early in the year. But a spell of hot weather is coming. 

It will start to get warmer from Thursday and on Friday the thermometer in eastern Switzerland should crack the 20C mark. 

Saturday is forecast to be the first ‘summer’ day of the year.

Temperatures of up to 24C and sunshine are expected around Lake Constance and around 22C in St.Gallen.

In some parts of the country, the Mercury will rise to 25C and up to 28C locally. It is expected to reach 26C in Zurich and 25C in both Geneva and Bern. Overall, it is forecast to be the warmest in foehn regions and in north-west Switzerland.

For instance, on Saturday it could reach 28C in Chur and possibly 29C in Biasca, according to current forecasts by weather service MeteoSchweiz.

And on Sunday, MeteoSchweiz predicts temperatures could reach 29C in Chur and 30C in Biasca. 

According to meteorologists, if the temperature is at least 25C, it is classified as a summer day, and if it reaches 30C, it’s a heatwave day. 

The 30-year average for an April day on the northern side of the Alps is around 15C.

However, this wouldn’t be the earliest summer day recorded. 

Basel reported 25.2C on March 30th 1989, while Lugano measured 27.3C in March. But some records for the first half of April could be broken in some regions of Switzerland depending on how warm it gets. 

Saharan dust cloud may impact temperatures

According to forecasters, there is still some uncertainty about the upcoming days. 

The main factor making things more unpredictable is desert dust blowing over from the Sahara. 

The next load of Saharan dust will approach western regions over the course of Saturday.

On Sunday and Monday, dust concentrations over Switzerland are likely to be similar to those over Easter. That means cloudy skies can be expected and that could make it less warm.

It comes after a mixed bag of weather over the Easter weekend.

Around 180,000 tonnes of Saharan dust clouded the sky on Saturday and downpours spread over the country on Easter Sunday and Monday. 

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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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