Cold front brings sharp 10°C temperature drop to Switzerland

After a long, hot and dry summer, the weather in Switzerland is finally starting to change. On Wednesday, September 9, the Swiss weather forecast predicts temperatures across the country will plummet by 10 degrees celsius. 

Cold front arrives in Switzerland

While the week started with a return to summer weather, with highs of 32 degrees in some Swiss cities on Monday and Tuesday, signs of autumn are arriving in Switzerland. 

A cold front is now sweeping across the country, as temperatures drop by 10 degrees. On Wednesday, weather forecasts predict highs of around 20 degrees in Zurich, 18 in Basel and 22 in Geneva, and increasing chances of rain according to MeteoSwiss. The weather change is often “characterised by clouds, rain and sometimes storms,” explains the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, so make sure to grab your Regenschirm before you leave the house.

The cold front will affect much of Europe as a “powerful upper-level trough that is emerging from the North Atlantic [which] will drive a strong surface cold front across Western and Central Europe,” explains Severe Weather Europe. The cold front will “crash directly into the extreme, record-warm air mass parked over the continent” and create some “unseasonably cold air”.

Mornings and nights will also be noticeably cooler, with lows of between 10 and 15 degrees. Residents will also have to start adjusting to the sun rising later, around 6.56am this week depending on where you live, and setting earlier at around 7.52pm.

The cooler weather will continue into Thursday, though it will be slightly less wet than Wednesday, with highs of around 22 degrees.

Expect temperatures in the low 20s this weekend

The weather this weekend will be largely sunny, with occasional clouds and fog. Temperatures in major cities will sit between 22 and 24 degrees from Friday to Sunday.

Based on initial weather forecasts, we can expect the slightly lower temperatures to remain (highs of around 25 degrees) heading into next week. While not the autumn weather that you expect in Switzerland this time of year, you may start to spot other signs of a change in season popping up across the country. It is almost Kürbissuppe season after all!