Published31 August 2024, 10:41
Weather Switzerland: Heavy thunderstorms spoil hot weekend
On Saturday, the thermometer will climb above 30 degrees in many places; August was generally a record-breaking month for temperatures. However, some heavy thunderstorms are expected in the evening.
von
-
Temperatures will reach over 30 degrees on Saturday.
-
During the course of the afternoon, however, various thunderstorms will hit Switzerland.
-
Heavy rain is also expected in some places on Sunday.
Switzerland is expecting a hot weekend: temperatures have been above 20 degrees since the morning hours in many places, especially in the north of the country, and are likely to rise significantly over the course of the day. In Basel and Zurich, but also in Chur and Lugano, 31 degrees Celsius are expected, and in Valais, federal meteorologists are even expecting peak temperatures of 33 degrees.
Temperatures will be similarly high on Sunday, but anyone who was looking forward to a weekend of uninterrupted summer weather will probably be disappointed. Heavy thunderstorms are expected in all parts of Switzerland in the afternoon and evening, as the Meteo Switzerland precipitation radar shows.
From then on it gets uncomfortable
The first rain showers are expected in Graubünden from around 2 p.m., and shortly afterwards there will also be thunderstorms in Valais. During the course of the afternoon, the thunderstorm cells coming from the south will move across Switzerland and will reach central and northeastern Switzerland in the evening.
A lot of rain and some heavy thunderstorms are expected in the Engelberg-Andermatt region and on Lake Brienz at around 6.30 p.m., and there is also likely to be heavy rainfall in Toggenburg. However, the situation will calm down again during the course of the evening, and despite the downpours, temperatures are expected to remain at 15 to 20 degrees overnight into Sunday.
This is what the weather will be like on Sunday
The second half of the weekend will be similar: With high temperatures, the first thunderstorms will reach Ticino on Sunday morning, and heavy rain may occur in Lugano, for example. After that, meteorologists are expecting smaller cells in western, central and southeastern Switzerland, which will move northwards during Sunday afternoon. To start the new week, temperatures on Monday will remain at a maximum of 28 degrees, but will be summery hot.
In the statistics, August 2024 secures the podium place as the second warmest since measurements began in 1864 – only in 2003 was the month warmer, with an average of 3.59 degrees above the average for the years 1991 to 2020.
This year, the temperature surplus was 2.4 degrees Celsius and gave Switzerland more summer days than usual in many places: while Basel normally has 16 summer days, there were 21 in August 2024. The high temperatures were also noticeable in the mountains, with the zero-degree limit, which at times rose to over 5,000 meters, putting a massive strain on the shrinking glaciers in particular.
Seen something, heard something?
Send us your news input!
Save our contact in the messenger of your choice and send exciting videos, photos and documents quickly and easily to the 20-Minuten editorial team.
If there is an accident or other misfortune, please alert the emergency services first.
The use of your contributions by 20 Minutes is regulated in our terms and conditions: 20min.ch/agb
Have you been following on Whatsapp for 20 minutes?
A news overview in the morning and at the end of the day, surprising stories and breaking news: Subscribe to the 20 Minutes WhatsApp channel and you will receive regular updates with our best stories directly on your mobile phone.
