Extreme weather closes Swiss roads and rail lines
High winds from the latest winter storm to hit Switzerland have knocked down trees and blocked roads and rail lines.
The winds from storm “Evi” reached speeds of up to 163 kilometres per hour (101 miles per hour) in the high Alps. In the lowlands, it attained speeds of around 100km/h.
This video from Swiss public television, SRF, shows how the winds whipped up the waters of Lake Zug in central Switzerland.
The A3 motorway that runs along the south shore of Lake Zurich was temporarily closed due to fallen trees, as were several other roads across the country. There were no reports of serious accidents.
Rail service on the line between Switzerland and Austria was also interrupted. Trains running between Zurich and the Austrian cities of Vienna and Innsbruck were re-routed. Many mountain railway services were not operating due to heavy snowfall.
Evi has hit Switzerland after storm “Burglind” wreaked havoc across parts of northern Europe at the beginning of the month.
+ Read about the impact of storm ‘Burglind’
Evi is expected to be followed by another storm, dubbed “Frederike”, on Thursday.
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