Great for sun worshippers, but too many hot, dry days can spell trouble.
Keystone
The current summer in Switzerland is the driest on record since 1921, and there is no sign of much rainfall arriving in the near future, according to the meteorological office.
While the years 2003 and 2015 were also parched, the dry spell this year started earlier, stretching back into the Spring. There has not been so little rainfall between the start of April to the middle of July for nearly 100 years, reports Swiss public television SRF.
Several cantons have banned open fires – a common feature of Swiss summers as people go out into the countryside to grill sausages – for fear of dry vegetation going up in flames and spreading.
This is also likely to affect August 1 Swiss national day celebrations in many reasons as they traditionally involve bonfires.
While there have been some summer thunder storms, rainfall has been restricted to small areas and the rainclouds have on the whole been swept away by winds.
And there is worse to come, say SRF weather forecasters. The hottest, driest days of summer generally occur between now and August 23 in Switzerland. This will only increase the risk of forest fires, experts warn.
Climatologists also predict more hot, dry summers for years to come according to their models.
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The traditional Zurich weather forecaster, an exploding stuffed snowman perched atop a blazing pyre, failed to set the traditional holiday crowds alight on Monday. The Böögg took a monotonous 20 minutes and 31 seconds for its head to explode – thus signaling a drab Swiss summer.
The Sechseläuten (or ‘Six Bells’) spring parade each year signals the burning of the Böögg – an effigy signifying the long winter months recently endured. Legend has it that the quicker the Böögg’s explosives-packed head takes to go off with a bang, the warmer and sunnier the summer will be.
Under drizzling grey skies on Monday, the process took a tediously long time. In fact, on only four occasions in the last decade has the Böögg taken longer to lose its head.
Last year’s result was altogether more satisfactory, both in terms of the speed at which the snowman exploded and the accuracy of its forecast. Last summer saw lots of sunshine and hot temperatures, just as the Böögg said it would, when its head detonated in under ten minutes.
This year, Zurich’s city trade guilds, resplendent as ever in traditional costumes and riding horses, were joined by guests from Basel and government minister Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis.
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