Winds gusting to more than 90 kilometres an hour forced the cancellation of the Swiss federal gymnastics festival’s opening ceremony in Biel on Thursday night.
<p>A 24-year-old woman has died after sustaining injuries when a powerful storm hit the post-party clean up operation at the Frauenfeld Festival site on Tuesday afternoon.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">A storm nicknamed “Gisela” gave rise to gale force winds of up to 145 km/hour on the Pilatus and Säntis mountains on Sunday night.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">A low pressure system bringing heavy snowfall and wind speeds of up to 180 km/h is expected to continue into Friday.</span><strong></strong></p>
<p><strong>Swiss authorities are asking citizens to watch out for falling trees, stay away from the woods, and secure loose belongings, especially Christmas lights, as thunderstorm "Joachim" moves in over the country. <br /></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Swiss authorities have warned that violent storms with winds of up to 120 kilometres per hour are to be expected in the country on Friday.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;">Raging thunderstorms hit many parts of Switzerland on Tuesday night, causing roads to rapidly flood while city streets emptied as frightened pedestrians fled for cover.<br /></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" lang="EN-GB">A series of violent thunderstorms hit Switzerland on Thursday, killing two people, flooding basements and garages and disrupting motorway traffic.</span></p>
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