Switzerland enjoys fourth-warmest spring in history
A bather on the edge of Lake Zurich. The end of May 2018 saw swimmers began to take to the water as temperatures continued to rise.
Keystone
Spring 2018 has been the fourth-warmest in Switzerland since records began in 1864, the Federal Office of Meteorology announced on Wednesday.
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Even if anecdotal opinion may err on the side of pessimism, the statistics show that the nationwide mean of 6 degrees Celsius continues the trend of high early-year temperatures: the six warmest springs on record have all been recorded since the turn of the century.
The meteorological spring this year was marginally cooler than that of last year (6.1 degrees), and significantly cooler than the warmest years of 2011 (6.8 degrees) and 2007 (6.7 degrees).
But since the year 2000, ten springs have been more than a degree above the average of the previous three decades.
The month of May, ending tomorrow, is also expected to be the fifth-mildest ever, with an average of 10.5 degrees across the country. The warmest May on record goes all the way back to 1868, just after records began, when the mean was 12.1 degrees.
And though current high temperatures are bringing thundery weather across much of the country, overall the spring has seen rainfall levels below long-term averages, the meteorological office said. Sunshine levels were also normal, or just below average.
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