The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Storm Benjamin sweeps across Switzerland

Storm "Benjamin" sweeps across Switzerland
Storm "Benjamin" sweeps across Switzerland Keystone-SDA

Heavy squalls caused damage in western Switzerland on Thursday with wind speeds of up to132 km/h. The government has issued an alert.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The storm has already caused traffic problems. At the request of Keystone-SDA, the Neuchâtel cantonal police announced that the Seyon gorge had to be temporarily closed due to fallen trees.

Rail traffic was also affected, including between La Chaux-de-Fonds and Besançon and between Vevey and Aigle. Trains travelled between Biel and Moutier, as well as between Basel and Laufen, sometimes with delays.

In Geneva, the city administration closed all parks and footpaths as a precautionary measure until further notice.

The federal government issued a level 3 out of 5 warning for the entire northern Alps region. This could lead to falling trees or damage to individual roofs. Intense continuous rain could also lead to the risk of flooding.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

External Content

Related Stories

Popular Stories

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR