Switzerland enjoys white Christmas

The dream of a white Christmas came true for the Swiss just in time with snowfall blanketing much of the country by Christmas Eve.

More snow arrived on Christmas day and is expected to remain on the ground at least until Wednesday when temperatures will rise above the freezing point.

The private weather service, Meteomedia, reported snow cover between five and ten centimetres in the plains between Geneva in the southwest and Lake Constance in the northeast. Some parts of northwestern Switzerland received more than 20cm.

White Christmases in Switzerland have become rare, according to the national weather service, MeteoSwiss. Zurich and Bern, for example, have only received some snow on either December 24, 25 or 26 four out of ten years since the 1930s.
 
And snow that stays for all three days only happens once every four years.
 
While the snowfall and freezing temperatures led to major cancellations and interruptions to rail services and at airports in many parts of western Europe, Switzerland was spared any significant slowdowns.

However there were a series of road accidents on December 24 and 25, with one reported fatality. And icy conditions in canton Graubünden led to more than 20 collisions on Christmas Eve, resulting in four injuries.