Brief Review

Climate

The Swiss climate is a great deal more temperate than most people expect. The average yearly temperature is almost 13ºC, varying from between 18ºC and 28ºC in the summer and -2ºC and 7ºC in winter.

Average temperatures in Switzerland have begun rising significantly in the last few decades. Between 1864 (when climatic record-keeping began) and 2005 there has been a rise in temperature of 1.5ºC, which makes an average temperature rise of 1.1ºC for every 100 years. In the lower elevations of Switzerland, the annual number of days with complete snow coverage has decreased from 65 to 20 between the years 1950 and 2000.

There are over 3.000 square kilometres of glaciers in Switzerland, which are unfortunately fast disappearing with the increase in global warming. They are currently at half the size they were in 1850, and if current trends continue the glaciers could be reduced to mere traces of ice at the highest elevations within just a few decades.