Valais, Switzerland (click on image to view larger)
Davos, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The danger of avalanches in the Swiss Alps has been at level 3 (”considerable danger”) for the past few days in many areas and is set to rise on Wednesday 30 December. Fresh snow and winds have created drifts, some of which are building up to dangerous levels. The greatest danger areas are above 1,800 metres on northern flanks of the Alps.
”The avalanche-prone locations are to be found on steep slopes of all aspects above approximately 2000 m,” according to the late Monday report from SLF, part of the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.
The UK weather service has told Britain to expect heavy rain Thursday and Friday, accompanied by widespread flooding in northwest England and southwest Scotland. A tidal surge in the Irish Sea could spell flooding in and north of Aberystwyth, Wales and gusting up to 70 miles per hour in some areas could add to the weather woes.
Lake Geneva, afternoon 26 May: storm lights warn sailors
Bern, Lucerne, Zurich, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Several areas in eastern Switzerland were hard hit by heavy thunderstorms and winds Tuesday afternoon 26 May. A man was killed when a tree blew down and landed on the car he was driving in Romanshorn, Thurgau and a woman is in stable condition at a Bern hospital after she was hit by a falling branch. Lucerne was hit by flash floods that swamped cellars and Zurich had several minutes of hail. Fribourg suffered heavy damage from falling trees.
The Lake Geneva area had gusting winds and rain, but was spared the strength of the storm that hit further east.
