The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss resort of Zermatt off-limits due to flooding risk

flood
The Vispa river in flood in Zermatt. Keystone / Claude Volken

Since midday on Friday, it has been impossible to reach Zermatt by either train or by road.

Trains are no longer running between Visp and Zermatt, the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn said in a press release. Trains on the R40, RE41 and RE42 lines have been cancelled due to the risk of flooding. Replacement buses are running between Visp and Täsch.  

The Vispa river rose from its banks on Friday morning. Schools in the tourist village were closed, a local authority employee told Keystone-ATS. According to the Walliser Bote, authorities in Zermatt have been on high alert since Friday morning.  

Valais on alert

The banks of the Rhône and its tributaries in canton Valais and Vaud will be off-limits to the public this weekend due to the risk of flooding. This ban will apply from Friday until Monday evening.

The flow of the Rhône, currently at a high level, is expected to continue rising until it reaches its peak on Friday late afternoon or evening, according to the Valais cantonal flood control authority (OCC), which has been reactivated for the occasion.

+ Read more: Politicians give CHF1 billion to prevent future Rhône flooding

Adapted from French by DeepL/kc/ac

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. 

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

F/A-18 take-offs and landings at Bern-Belp Airport

More

F/A-18s take off and land at Bern Airport

This content was published on The Swiss Armed Forces are training their fighter jets in Bern to fly from a civilian base. The exercise at Bern Airport will last until Wednesday.

Read more: F/A-18s take off and land at Bern Airport
cern

More

Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva

This content was published on Preparations for a huge new particle accelerator in Geneva have reached a milestone. After several years of work, a feasibility study for the project has now been finalised.

Read more: Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva
More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland

More

More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland

This content was published on The value of frozen Russian assets in Switzerland currently stands at CHF7.4 billion ($8.4 billion), the Swiss government announced on Tuesday.

Read more: More Russian assets frozen in Switzerland
Increase in business start-ups in the 1st quarter

More

Increase in Swiss business start-ups in Q1

This content was published on The number of business start-ups in Switzerland accelerated in the first three months of the year, with entrepreneurs being particularly dynamic in Central Switzerland, Basel and Geneva.

Read more: Increase in Swiss business start-ups in Q1

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR