The June heatwave was a rare event even in today’s climate
Keystone-SDA
Extreme heatwaves, such as the past few days, remain a rarity in Switzerland despite climate change, according to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss).
A heatwave of the same or greater intensity occurs less than once every 25 years at this time of year, MeteoSwiss said on Tuesday.
Despite the significant influence of global warming, a high-pressure weather system over Europe was also responsible for the heatwave.
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Such weather conditions combining with an already warmer climate remains a rare occurrence.
At the same time, climate change has made the heatwave significantly more likely and more intense, according to analysis by World Weather Attribution.
A comparable heatwave would have been practically impossible 50 years ago because it was around 3.5 degrees Celcius cooler back then.
According to MeteoSwiss, the heatwave illustrated “just how extreme a heatwave can be even with around 1.4 degrees of global warming”, the report continues.
As climate change progresses, Swiss climate scenarios suggest that heatwaves such as the one at the end of June 2026 are becoming more likely and could be even more extreme in the future.
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Translated from German, sub-edited by mga
