A ban to make a fire near forests in southern mountain regions of Switzerland has been extended due to the continuing dry spell.
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swissinfo.ch with SDA-ATS; urs
The authorities in cantons Valais, Ticino and Graubünden announced a ban several days ago, while other regions on the northern border with Germany warned people to be careful to reduce the risk of forest fires.
The principality of Liechenstein on Switzerland’s eastern border with Austria on Wednesday followed the Swiss authorities.
Regions in eastern Switzerland have also imposed a ban on taking water from rivers and lakes as water levels are considerably below average as a result of the dry and hot weather over the past few weeks.
Rangers evacuated the fish population from several local rives in central Switzerland.
The Federal Environment Office said most rivers and lakes in central and eastern Switzerland were nearing seasonal record low levels, despite a series of heavy thunderstorms over the past weekend.
The dry spell could lead to the cancellation of traditional bonfires and fireworks on Swiss National Day, August 1, if it doesn’t rain for at least three days, according to experts.
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Thermometers all around Switzerland are topping 30 degrees Celsius and temperatures are expected to remain high for a number of days. The Swiss meteorological office, MeteoSwiss, expects to record at least eight days of extraordinary temperatures this month, compared to an average of two over the last decades. While this would be some way off…
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The mountainous region south of the Alps hasn’t had any rain for more than a month. Local fire brigades have been deployed to try to contain the blaze. The defence ministry said five army helicopters helped drop water for aerial firefighting on Wednesday. Nevertheless, the blaze in the Mesocco Valley managed to spread across an…
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