Open fires have been forbidden in many parts of Switzerland for fear of starting forest blazes.
Keystone
July has been declared one of the ten hottest in Switzerland since records began in 1864 as the heatwave continues. Temperatures this month have also been 1.9 degrees Celsius hotter than the average July, as recorded between 1981 and 2010.
Switzerland has already seen this year the second-warmest April, the fifth-warmest May and the fourth-warmest June.
Canton Valais in western Switzerland and the southern side of the Alps have now seen the hottest July since records began, according to MeteoSwiss, the Swiss meteorological office. In the city of Sion, canton Valais, temperatures have been 3.3C hotter than normal.
Switzerland is also experiencing drought conditions. The period from the start of May to mid-July had already been declared as the driest since 1921. Now MeteoSwiss says the April-July period is the fourth-driest since 1864.
Ironically, violent thunderstorms in some regions have also seen brief spurts of record localised precipitation. The measuring centre at Magadino-Cadenazzo in the southern canton of Ticino saw a record 60mm in one hour on July 28, beating the 53.2mm from May 7, 2009.
But rainfall in general has been too sporadic and confined to small areas to make an impact.
The dry conditions have resulted in bans in almost all cantons on the use of fireworks in or near forests (only Fribourg, Geneva and Neuchâtel are currently allowing them). Ahead of Swiss National Day on August 1, many central cantons have imposed a total ban on fireworksoutdoors. They have also have forced a slowdown in the activity of the Mühleberg nuclear plant as it struggles to keep vital equipment cool.
Related Stories
Popular Stories
More
International Geneva
A Geneva-based global health foundation came close to ‘collapse’. Where were regulators?
Swiss-EU treaties: signatures handed in for Kompass initiative
This content was published on
The committee behind the Compass Initiative submitted the signatures it had collected to the Federal Chancellery on Friday.
This content was published on
Esther Grether has died aged 89. Considered one of Switzerland’s leading entrepreneurs, the owner of the Basel-based Doetsch Grether Group was also a major shareholder in the Swatch Group and an art collector.
This content was published on
The flag of the Swiss Wrestling Federation has been received at the start of the Swiss Wrestling and Alpine Festival in Mollis, canton Glarus.
Figurine heads in Zurich school not considered discriminatory
This content was published on
The 16 carved figurine heads in the auditorium of the Hirschengraben school building in Zurich are not discriminatory, according to an independent expert report.
Swiss political parties report income of CHF22.4 million for 2024
This content was published on
Ten parties reported income totalling CHF22.4 million for 2024, less than in the 2023 election year. The reports are based on the regulations for transparency in political financing.
FIFA loses multi-million lawsuit against Blatter and Kattner
This content was published on
Former FIFA officials Joseph Blatter and Markus Kattner do not have to pay back their own bonuses or the bonus totalling CHF 23 million paid to another FIFA official to FIFA. This was decided by the Zurich Labour Court.
How cancer cells makes healthy cells work for them
This content was published on
Cancer cells manipulate neighbouring cells for their own purposes: a research team at ETH Zurich has discovered that they can reprogram neighbouring cells in such a way that they help the tumour to grow.
This content was published on
The ban on non-residents entering the swimming pool in Porrentruy, canton Jura, expires on Sunday and would be extended until the end of the season, the mayor said.
Natural disasters: most Swiss back forced resettlement
This content was published on
The authorities should be allowed to order forced relocations if there is a medium-term risk of a natural event, according to 58% of participants in a survey.
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
Swiss summer driest since 1921
This content was published on
While the years 2003 and 2015 were also parched, the dry spell this year started earlier, stretching back into the Spring. There has not been so little rainfall between the start of April to the middle of July for nearly 100 years, reports Swiss public television SRF. Several cantons have banned open fires – a…
This content was published on
MeteoSwiss has issued a heat warning for the Italian-speaking region of Ticino, as the country continues to suffer the effects of the heat.
This content was published on
A ban to make a fire near forests in southern mountain regions of Switzerland has been extended due to the continuing dry spell.
This content was published on
The traditional Zurich weather forecaster, an exploding stuffed snowman perched atop a blazing pyre, failed to set the traditional holiday crowds alight on Monday. The Böögg took a monotonous 20 minutes and 31 seconds for its head to explode – thus signaling a drab Swiss summer.
The Sechseläuten (or ‘Six Bells’) spring parade each year signals the burning of the Böögg – an effigy signifying the long winter months recently endured. Legend has it that the quicker the Böögg’s explosives-packed head takes to go off with a bang, the warmer and sunnier the summer will be.
Under drizzling grey skies on Monday, the process took a tediously long time. In fact, on only four occasions in the last decade has the Böögg taken longer to lose its head.
Last year’s result was altogether more satisfactory, both in terms of the speed at which the snowman exploded and the accuracy of its forecast. Last summer saw lots of sunshine and hot temperatures, just as the Böögg said it would, when its head detonated in under ten minutes.
This year, Zurich’s city trade guilds, resplendent as ever in traditional costumes and riding horses, were joined by guests from Basel and government minister Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis.
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.