The spring of 2026 was recorded in Swiss statistics as the third warmest since records began. Persistent high pressure led to very dry conditions, lots of sunshine and a heat wave with new temperature records in May.
The national average temperature from March to May was 1.6 degrees Celsius above the average for the reference period from 1991 to 2020, according to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss). Only the springs of 2011 and 2007 were warmer, with a deviation of 1.9C and 1.7C respectively.
In meteorological terms, spring lasts from March 1 to May 31. At 0.4C, March was only slightly above normal. April, on the other hand, was the fifth warmest on a national average since records began, writes swissinfo. The temperature was 2.6 degrees above the reference period, reports albinfo.ch.
May breaks several records
May was a changeable month. A cold spell around Ascension with ground frosts and fresh snow at lower elevations was followed by an unusually early heat wave towards the end of the month. Overall, May was 1.8 degrees warmer than average.
The heat wave brought new daily temperatures for May at many measuring locations. In Biasca, canton Ticino, the highest temperature ever recorded in May on the southern side of the Alps was 34.8 degrees on May 28. This is only 0.3 degrees below the national record for May in Switzerland, which was set in Sion on May 25, 2009 at 35.1 degrees Celsius.
The spring was also one of the driest on record. The amount of precipitation in the period from March to May 2026 was between 40 and 90% below normal, depending on the region. The spring was particularly dry in the eastern parts of the country. In the Graubünden and Engadin regions, it was the driest spring on average since 1901./Albinfo.ch/
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