Switzerland has been deluged by torrential rain over the last few days, but what’s the forecast for this coming long weekend? We took a look to see whether umbrellas would be needed for Friday’s August 1st celebrations.
Last weekend saw distinctly autumnal – or even wintry – weather, marked by cooler temperatures, thunderstorms and persistent heavy rain across much of the country.
On Sunday afternoon, the Federal Office for the Environment issued a weather warning and Swiss weather service MeteoNews said heavy rain could cause flooding and landslides across eastern and central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland.
Heavy rain warnings were still in place for some parts of the country on Monday, but the cloudy and wet weather was expected to improve by midnight on Tuesday, according to MeteoNews.
In more good news, forecasts showed that temperatures were expected to increase again from Tuesday with sunny spells displacing the heavy rain in most cantons.
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And it’s certainly looking distinctly less wet for Friday 1st August, Swiss National Day.
No heavy rain was forecast at the time of writing, but MeteoNews predictions showed that it was also unlikely to be completely dry in all of Switzerland’s cantons.
It looks like the SPF might come in more handy than an umbrella, though, as forecasts anticipated sunny spells for much of Switzerland on Friday, interspersed with only periodic light showers or drizzle.
Given the mid-20C temperatures expected for much of the country, that drizzle might well be refreshing rather than annoying.
Let’s look at what’s predicted in some areas:
Zurich looks dry for most of the day with forecasts only indicating very light rain late at night, highs of 23C and almost seven hours of sunshine.
Over in Geneva in western Switzerland, it’s set to be even warmer and sunnier – 25C – but forecasts showed that as well as long sunny spells and close to eight hours of sunshine, there could also be some very light showers – less than 1mm of rain – between midday and 6pm.
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It’s a very similar picture in Basel in north-west Switzerland where only short episodes of drizzle were expected over the course of the day.
Things were expected to heat up in Lugano, in Italian-speaking Ticino, with temperatures rising to 27C.
However, from 3pm, the southern city may experience storms and light to moderate rain (up to 3mm), which might put a dampener on festivities.
And it may slightly wetter – and less sunny – over in the east of the country, too.
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In Chur, for example, forecasts showed just four hours of sun and drizzle for most of the afternoon (up to 2mm), with showers expected to get a little heavier after 6pm (up to 3mm).
READ ALSO: Why does Switzerland celebrate national day on August 1st?
Only mountainous areas, such as Zermatt, Gotthard Pass and Piz Bernina, would continue to see sub-20C temperatures, with the latter moving above freezing to 0C by Friday, forecasts showed.
Umbrellas may be required on Saturday, though, with forecasts currently indicating that cooler and wetter weather would set in for the day in much of the country.
Temperatures were forecast to drop to around 20C in most cantons on Saturday and thunderstorms were expected in several areas, including Zurich, Basel, Lausanne and Saint Gallen.
But the rain would peter out again on Sunday, with MeteoNews anticipating that most cantons would see out the week with sunny spells and drizzle.
