Switzerland seeing driest year in decades
Summer rainstorms are already a forgotten memory in swathes of western Switzerland that are experiencing the driest weather conditions since 1921.
The near absence of rain in November has raised the spectre of drought in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
According to MeteoSwiss, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, river levels are at a historically lob ebb, while rainfall levels in some areas are way below average for the time of year.
In the last 150 years, only 1921 saw drier weather for the period from January to October. The hardest hit regions are Cossonay and Payerne in canton Vaud, and Sierre in canton Valais, while the rain is also steering clear of the Central Plateau.
Heavy rainfall in July did not compensate for the dry spring and the lack of rain in the autumn. And With an area of high pressure expected to remain over the south-west of Switzerland, there is no immediate sign of damper days ahead.
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