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Handy hotline: Switzerland sets up ‘heat telephone’ to help residents as temperatures skyrocket

With temperatures reaching tropical levels across Switzerland, officials in Zurich have set up a ‘heat telephone’ to advise residents on how to behave in ever-warmer temperatures.

Published: 28 July 2020 14:15 CEST
Updated: 29 July 2020 10:41 CEST
Handy hotline: Switzerland sets up ‘heat telephone’ to help residents as temperatures skyrocket
People cool down during a heatwave in Lausanne. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Quite literally a hotline, callers can get information on how to behave during the heatwave and the steps they can take to reduce its impact. 

The number has been set up by the Red Cross in Zurich, but can be called by residents across Switzerland. 

 

 

The number is 044 412 00 60. 

Monday was the hottest day of the year so far in Switzerland, with temperatures expected to continue to climb in the coming days, particularly in Ticino and Geneva. 

Temperatures rose into the mid-30s in Basel and Geneva, while the mark of 30 degrees was breached across the country. 

 

 

During the night on Monday the weather remained warm, with the mercury staying above 20 in several Swiss regions. 

 

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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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