A scorcher of a year in Swiss climate history

The snowfall of last January in the Swiss city of Zurich did not mean that the rest of the year would be cold and wet... Keystone

The year 2018 will go down as the hottest in most parts of Switzerland since systematic weather record keeping was introduced in 1864.

The weather service of SRF public radio and television said temperatures north of the Alps in the current year were 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average of the years 1961 to 1990.

Except for February and March, every month of the year was hotter in regions north of the Alps than normal. 2018 is the fourth time over the past decade that new records were set.

The extreme weather conditions in Switzerland were in line with those in large parts of Europe this year. But experts also point out that conditions in regions south of the Swiss Alps might not have been record breaking.

The highest temperature in the country this year was registered in the southwestern town of Sion with 36.2°C, but the absolute record stands at 41.5°C in the southern valley of Misox in 2003.

The current year was also marked by long periods without rain but also a series of violent storms.

At the other end of the temperature scale this year: The weather service measured negative 30.9°C on the Corvatsch mountain in the southeastern Engadine region.