Swiss heat: parallels drawn with 2003 ‘summer of century’

Weather service draws parallels to the hot summer of 2003 Keystone-SDA

Looking at the current weather situation in Switzerland, the private weather service MeteoNews has drawn parallels with the hot summer of 2003: the hottest June to date was followed by an equally record-breaking hot August.

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In 2003, as in 2025, the prevailing high-pressure situation in June ensured an exceptionally high level of sunshine and hot temperatures, meteorologist Michael Eichmann from MeteoNews wrote in a blog post. In addition, a temperature setback followed the hot June in 2003.

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These parallels allow initial, cautious conclusions to be drawn for August, he added. In 2003, August – like June – was the hottest on record. Back then, high pressure over the British Isles meant that Atlantic currents had to move northwards and did not reach the Alpine region.

Initial models are also forecasting high-pressure weather for the British Isles this year. However, Eichmann emphasised that even small model deviations can lead to large differences.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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