Switzerland is preparing itself for Storm Joachim, which is expected to cause strong gusts of wind of up to 150 kilometres an hour in some mountain areas.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
A low pressure system has been making its way down from northern France and Germany, and should reach its peak in Switzerland by the end of Friday morning.
The Swiss national weather service told the Swiss News Agency that gusts at speeds of 120km/h had been measured in the Bernese Jura overnight. Also in the area, a train collided with a fallen tree. Around a dozen people were slightly injured.
Boat services have been cancelled on Lake Geneva and officials have warned of the dangers at building sites.
MeteoSwiss says Joachim will be “exceptional” but will not be as strong as Hurricane Lothar which swept across Europe in 1999, causing damage to property in Switzerland of around SFr600 million ($639 million) and damage to forests of SFr750 million.
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.
Read more
More
Hurricane Irene disrupts Swiss flights
This content was published on
A Swiss spokeswoman said two flights to and from Zurich and one to and from Geneva were cancelled on Saturday, and five round-trips were grounded on Sunday. An additional ten flights from US airlines were cancelled to Zurich. On Sunday Irene weakened to a tropical storm but the huge weather system remained dangerous as it…
This content was published on
Forester Jakob Zaugg told swissinfo.ch he still has vivid memories of the storm that took its toll of countless woods in Switzerland. “Trees flew with their roots like arrows 80 metres into the air and then fell to the ground. I’d never seen anything like that before.” Zaugg, who has been self-employed in the special…
This content was published on
Heavy rainfall and flooding in Bern as well as east and central Switzerland in August 2005 caused heavy damage amounting to SFr2.5 billion.
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.