This Swiss spring was one of the warmest on record

This spring has been warmer and sunnier than usual. Some people enjoyed it, but it also raises the prospect of possible water shortages this summer. © Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

Spring 2022 in Switzerland was one of the warmest on record, with temperatures from March to May around 2.5 degrees above normal, public television weather service SRF Meteo said on Saturday.

Only 2007 and 2011 were warmer, since records began in 1864, it said. The weather has also been drier than in the past, meaning there is a threat of water shortages this summer. 

There is also a lack of snow, which serves as a water reservoir. In the coming months, only a quarter of the usual snow reserves will be available. At the Weissfluhjoch measurement site above Davos in eastern Switzerland, there is still a blanket of 35 centimetres, but the norm for 28 May is 1.4 metres of snow.

To compensate for this, abundant precipitation is needed this summer, otherwise there could be problems with the water supply, according to SRF Meteo.

This spring has also been sunnier than usual, with more than 600 hours of sunshine, reports the weather service. The month of March was the sunniest since surveys began in the Swiss towns of Aarau, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen and Arosa.

Switzerland has seen several episodes of hotter, drier weather in recent years amid climate change warnings. For example, in the hot, dry summer of 2018, Swiss army helicopters were even used to bring emergency water supplies to cattle farmers in high mountain pastures.