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WEATHER

Subzero weather to end mild autumn conditions

Mild, sunny conditions in Switzerland are set to give way to plunging temperatures and snow this weekend as a storm from northeastern Europe, packing strong winds, heads to the Alpine country, forecasters say.

Published: 18 November 2015 20:42 CET
Subzero weather to end mild autumn conditions
Blue skies — and no snow — at Chateau d'Oex in the Vaud Alps as seen in this webcam shot from Wednesday. Photo: MeteoSwiss

Autumn has been largely dry and warmer than usual with highs of 18C in Basel on Wednesday and 17C in Geneva under sunny skies, according to MeteoSwiss, while high mountain passes have remained snow-free.

The benign weather is forecast to continue across most of the country on Thursday before the edge of the storm hits on Friday.

Heavy rain will hit most of the country accompanied by strong winds that will intensify on Saturday and Sunday when snow is forecast on the Swiss plateau for the first time this fall and in mountain regions.

Snow is not expected to linger in the valleys but temperatures will likely drop below zero on Sunday and Monday in many parts of the country, the outlook from the national weather office said.

Many Swiss mountain passes normally closed at this time of year, have stayed open because of the balmy climate.

But this week they are starting to close for the winter season.

The Gotthard road pass straddling the border of the cantons of Uri and Ticino was set to close on Wednesday at 6pm, a day after the Susten Pass, also in Uri, shut down.

The Klausen (Uri/Glarus) and Furka (Uri/Valais) passes are programmed to close on Thursday.  

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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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