Swiss rivers and lakes remain low as dry weather persists

In some Swiss regions, less than half the normal amount of precipitation has fallen so far this year. Keystone-SDA

The start of the year has been far too dry for Switzerland's rivers and lakes. Some of them have fallen to record levels, and the situation is not about to improve, warned MeteoNews on Tuesday.

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The weather is expected to remain dry until at least next weekend.

The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) confirmed on Tuesday in an interview with Keystone-ATS news agency that widespread and sustained precipitation would be needed before lake and river levels could return to normal.

Isolated, local thunderstorms may cause a rise from time to time, but have little influence at the wider regional level.

According to MeteoNews, there is currently a national precipitation deficit of around 25% this year.

Canton Valais, the foothills of the Alps, and the north and centre of canton Graubünden in southeastern Switzerland are particularly hard hit. In some regions, less than half the normal amount of precipitation has fallen so far.

Translated from French by DeepL/sb

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