Thursday, Ascension Day, was a public holiday in Switzerland, but the weather in most of the country was far from holiday-like, with plenty of rain and little sun.
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May this year has been exceptionally cold and wet, and even before the month is half way through, some places in southern Switzerland have already had more rain than the average for the entire month.
In the space of 12 hours on Thursday 60 litres of rain per square metre fell in the area around the lakes of the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, the Swiss meteorological service told the Swiss news agency.
As a result, the levels of the lakes have risen. The Environment Office warned on Wednesday that there could be some slight flooding from Lakes Lugano and Maggiore in the next few days, but that the situation was not critical.
More rain is expected on Friday, but an improvement is forecast for the south on Saturday.
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