Storms leave trail of destruction across Switzerland
Heavy rain, gale force winds, hail and lightening – Switzerland has experienced all these weather phenomena since Wednesday when a major storm front began moving across the country.
The storm, which meteorologists say is the worst since Eleanor/Burglind struck in early January, flooded roads, underpasses and cellars and resulted in thousands of claims for damages.
In Zurich alone the cantonal buildings insurer had received 2,000 reports of damage by midday on Thursday amounting to an estimated 10 million francs, according to news reports.
While Zurich and eastern Switzerland took the brunt of the bad weather on Wednesday, by Thursday the storm had moved on to western, central and southern regions, wreaking destruction there.
Readers of the Blick newspaper from Solothurn in the northwest to St Gallen in the east shared photos of gardens and roads white with hail stones.
SFR Meteo reported that in Schöfflisdorf, Zurich the amount of hail that fell reached thigh height and excavators had to be deployed to clear the roads.
Hüfthoch lag gestern der #Hagel in #Schöfflisdorf ZH. ⛈️⛈️ Da half nur noch die grosse Schaufel.
Möglicherweise muss der #Bagger auch heute ran. ^gf pic.twitter.com/DD0q1r8MXR
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) May 31, 2018
Lightening also struck across Switzerland, with tens of thousands of flashes registered, weather services reported.
#Blitzspektakel über Winterthur, 21.40 Uhr. Danke SRFAugenzeuge Michel Gelin.
Nun ziehen die #Gewitter nach Deutschland ab. Nur noch am Bodensee und Alpstein kann es letzte Gewitter bis Mitternacht geben. Eine ruhige Nacht wünsche ich allen. ?^je pic.twitter.com/p84FgoOaQd
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) May 31, 2018
Fire and rescue services have been in big demand and were called out 61 times in the canton of Zurich on Thursday night.
Von 20.00 bis 22.15 Uhr disponierte die #Einsatzleitzentrale 61 Feuerwehreinsätze wegen #Unwetter (im Kanton ZH 56 und in Stadt ZH 5). Konzentration ZH Unterland und Dübendorf. Die Gewitterzellen drehen Richtung Norden ab und verlassen die CH. Wir wünschen eine ruhige Nacht. ^bä pic.twitter.com/HKqpcwrwIX
— Schutz & Rettung ZH (@SchutzRettungZH) May 31, 2018
Friday marks the meteorilogical start of spring and more settled weather is forecast for the weekend, with temperatures reaching up to 27 degrees SRF Meteo said.
Comments
See Also
The storm, which meteorologists say is the worst since Eleanor/Burglind struck in early January, flooded roads, underpasses and cellars and resulted in thousands of claims for damages.
In Zurich alone the cantonal buildings insurer had received 2,000 reports of damage by midday on Thursday amounting to an estimated 10 million francs, according to news reports.
While Zurich and eastern Switzerland took the brunt of the bad weather on Wednesday, by Thursday the storm had moved on to western, central and southern regions, wreaking destruction there.
Readers of the Blick newspaper from Solothurn in the northwest to St Gallen in the east shared photos of gardens and roads white with hail stones.
SFR Meteo reported that in Schöfflisdorf, Zurich the amount of hail that fell reached thigh height and excavators had to be deployed to clear the roads.
Hüfthoch lag gestern der #Hagel in #Schöfflisdorf ZH. ⛈️⛈️ Da half nur noch die grosse Schaufel.
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) May 31, 2018
Möglicherweise muss der #Bagger auch heute ran. ^gf pic.twitter.com/DD0q1r8MXR
Lightening also struck across Switzerland, with tens of thousands of flashes registered, weather services reported.
#Blitzspektakel über Winterthur, 21.40 Uhr. Danke SRFAugenzeuge Michel Gelin.
— SRF Meteo (@srfmeteo) May 31, 2018
Nun ziehen die #Gewitter nach Deutschland ab. Nur noch am Bodensee und Alpstein kann es letzte Gewitter bis Mitternacht geben. Eine ruhige Nacht wünsche ich allen. ?^je pic.twitter.com/p84FgoOaQd
Fire and rescue services have been in big demand and were called out 61 times in the canton of Zurich on Thursday night.
Von 20.00 bis 22.15 Uhr disponierte die #Einsatzleitzentrale 61 Feuerwehreinsätze wegen #Unwetter (im Kanton ZH 56 und in Stadt ZH 5). Konzentration ZH Unterland und Dübendorf. Die Gewitterzellen drehen Richtung Norden ab und verlassen die CH. Wir wünschen eine ruhige Nacht. ^bä pic.twitter.com/HKqpcwrwIX
— Schutz & Rettung ZH (@SchutzRettungZH) May 31, 2018
Friday marks the meteorilogical start of spring and more settled weather is forecast for the weekend, with temperatures reaching up to 27 degrees SRF Meteo said.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.