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WEATHER

Swiss taste of Indian summer forecast

After snow closed mountain passes amid subzero temperatures last week, Switzerland is now preparing to return to sun tanning and dining on restaurant terraces as forecasters call for sunshine and temperatures up to 25 degrees this weekend.

Swiss taste of Indian summer forecast
Photo: Lykaestra

A Föhn wind is forecast to blow through the valleys north of the Alps in the next few days, MeteoNews, said on Thursday, predicting highs from 20 to 25 in many regions.

Mild air coming from the southwest is set to settle over the country for a few days, bringing a taste of Indian summer to some regions of the country.

After freezing levels fell to as low as 700 metres a week ago, they are expected to climb to between 3,500 and 3,700 metres in the mountains on Saturday.

Not all areas of Switzerland will benefit from clear skies, with fog and stratus cloud expected in the plains.

And MeteoSwiss, the national weather office, is a little less optimistic about those high temperatures, calling for maximums between 19 and 21 degrees.

Rain is expected across the country on Sunday, although mild conditions will resume early next week.

The generally improved weather comes as welcome relief for many wine growers who are still bringing in the grape harvest in cantons such as Geneva, Vaud and Valais.

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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.

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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