Areas of Switzerland saw record snowfall for the month of May overnight from Saturday into Sunday. Most snow fell in the central and eastern alpine regions, but the most dramatic records were observed in lower-lying Bern and St Gallen.
The Swiss capital of Bern woke up to four centimetres of fresh snow on Sunday morning. The previous record for the month was one centimetre in 1945.
The eastern city of St Gallen saw 19 centimetres of snow, up from the 12 centimetres recorded on May 7, 1957, according to the Swiss meteorological service MeteoSwissExternal link.
People have been advised not to take walks in wooded areas, especially in deciduous regions, as wet snow caught in trees could cause branches to fall off.
Weather forecasters have warned of further problems likely to be caused by the unseasonal cold snap next early week. MeteoSwiss forecasts sharp groundfrost in the lowlands on Monday and Tuesday.
Vineyards and the strawberry crop may be threatened by these adverse weather conditions. Two years’ ago, the Swiss fruit farming industry suffered heavy losses as a result of late frosts. Vineyards were badly hit, as were cherry, apricot and apple harvests.
However, the damage is predicted to be less severe this time around as the frost will come a few weeks later, after many trees have already blossomed.
More
More
Switzerland records abnormally mild winter temperatures
This content was published on
Winter temperatures were 1.9 degrees higher at the Locarno-Monti station in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino and 1.6 degrees higher in Lugano. This meant that southern Switzerland has seen only one winter with milder temperatures since 1864. + The hottest winter in southern Switzerland was in 2007 Temperatures in higher alpine regions, at more than…
Has your continent reached its peak or is there still potential for economic growth?
Some regions of the world are on an upward trajectory with the promise of a steadily improving future. Where do you live? And in which direction is your region or continent developing?
This content was published on
Flight safety is reduced by the clogging of airspace, says Thomas Steffen, a pilot for Swiss and head of safety at Aeropers, the industry association.
Malaysian artist Yee I-Lann holds first major European exhibition in Thun
This content was published on
Das Kunstmuseum Thun richtet im August die erste grössere Europaausstellung der malaysischen Künstlerin Yee I-Lann aus. Darin werden Einflüsse des Kolonialismus aber auch das Fortbestehen des indigenen Erbes thematisiert.
Data from Swiss health foundation Radix leaked on the dark web
This content was published on
After the cyber attack suffered by the Radix foundation at the end of last month, sensitive personal data such as names and debts of people banned from casinos were published on the Darknet.
This content was published on
Companies with an externally validated net-zero target emit less CO2 than those without a climate target. This is the conclusion of a new analysis by the US financial services provider MSCI.
This content was published on
Swiss companies are increasingly being targeted by cyber criminals. In the past quarter, every single company in this country was the target of a cyber attack an average of 1097 times a week.
Swiss households faced 21 minutes of power outages in 2024
This content was published on
End customers experienced an average of 21 minutes of electricity interruption in 2024. This resulted in 0.34 power outages per capita. The duration of electricity interruptions increased by three minutes compared to the previous year.
Swiss citizens will be voting on restricting wind farm expansion
This content was published on
On Friday, the Association for the Protection of Nature and Democracy submitted two initiatives aimed at curbing the expansion of wind farms. More than 110,000 signatures have been collected.
E-bike riders regularly break speed limit in residential areas
This content was published on
Fast e-bikes regularly exceed the speed limit in residential areas. According to a new study with data on cyclists in Zurich, they regularly reach speeds of over 30 km/h.
This content was published on
Swiss small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to find staff, a problem made more acute by the increased bargaining power of employees and increased absenteeism.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Wintry weather brings avalanche risk
This content was published on
Fresh snowfall - two weeks into spring - has been causing traffic disruption has and brought warnings of a high avalanche danger for some regions.
This content was published on
The 79 million litres of red and white wine of the 2017 vintage – a decrease of 27% compared with 2016 – is the result of cold nights last April and of hot and dry days in August, according to the Federal Agriculture OfficeExternal link. The worst affected wine-growing region was the French-speaking part of…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.