DON’T MISS
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingIamExpat Webinars
Newsletters
EXPAT INFO
CAREER
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIFESTYLE
EXPAT SERVICES
NEWS & ARTICLES
Home
Lifestyle
Swiss news & articles
SRF draws heat for wildly inaccurate European weather forecasts
Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy

SRF draws heat for wildly inaccurate European weather forecasts

Never miss a thing!Sign up for our weekly newsletters with important news stories, expat events and special offers.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy
or
follow us for regular updates:

Related Stories

December 2024: 12 important changes expats in Switzerland need to knowDecember 2024: 12 important changes expats in Switzerland need to know
March 2025 in Switzerland: 10 important things expats need to knowMarch 2025 in Switzerland: 10 important things expats need to know
Emergency text alerts to be introduced in SwitzerlandEmergency text alerts to be introduced in Switzerland
Switzerland debates scrapping the TV licence fee: What you need to knowSwitzerland debates scrapping the TV licence fee: What you need to know
July 2024: 10 things people in Switzerland need to knowJuly 2024: 10 things people in Switzerland need to know
Swiss TV licence fee set to be cut under new plansSwiss TV licence fee set to be cut under new plans
The right to be offline: Zurich debates new digital rights proposalThe right to be offline: Zurich debates new digital rights proposal
Switzerland moves to cut the Serafe TV licence feeSwitzerland moves to cut the Serafe TV licence fee
For expats of all colours, shapes and sizes

Explore
Expat infoCareerHousingEducationLifestyleExpat servicesNews & articles
About us
IamExpat MediaAdvertisePost a jobContact usSitemapRSS feeds
More IamExpat
IamExpat Job BoardIamExpat HousingWebinarsNewsletters
Privacy
Terms of usePrivacy policyCookiesAvoiding scams

Never miss a thing!Sign up for expat events, news & offers, delivered once a week.
Keep me updated with exclusive offers from partner companies
By signing up, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our privacy policy


© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
© 2025 IamExpat Media B.V.
Aug 9, 2023

SRF Meteo - the forecasting arm of the Swiss national broadcaster SRF - has come under fire for its wildly inaccurate weather predictions for destinations across Europe. Some in the media, members of the government and the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) claim the inaccurate readings are part of a climate alarmist agenda designed to stoke fear in the lead-up to the federal elections in October, an accusation SRF vehemently denies.

SVP accuse Swiss broadcaster of climate alarmism

In a piece published by Weltwoche, the newspaper accused the national broadcaster of publishing deliberate and false high temperatures in its weather forecasts for Europe. According to 20 Minuten, forecasts for the Mediterranean region can be up to eight degrees celsius too high.

Weltwoche, which is edited by SVP National Councillor Roger Köppel, then accused SRF of deliberately raising temperature forecasts for political reasons. “The thesis: the hotter it supposedly is, the more important the issue of climate change becomes. That gives the Greens [a boost] in the election campaign”, the newspaper wrote.

This idea soon gained traction within the SVP, with National Councillor Thomas Matter personally denouncing the misleading forecasts. “If you abuse SRF Meteo in an election year to advance the climate agenda, that’s big”, he told TeleZüri. The SVP has a long history of dispute with SRF, regularly accusing it of having an anti-right wing bias - although it must be noted that every Swiss political party has at one point accused the public broadcaster of being biased against their views.

Inaccurate forecasts caused by technical fault, SRF argues

Speaking to the Luzerner Zeitung, SRF Meteo editor Thomas Bucheli said that the “accusation of deliberate falsification is completely absurd." He explained that the high-temperature forecasts were not deliberately designed to boost the Green Party in the polls, but were instead caused by an error in their technical reporting that was itself spurred on by climate change.

Bucheli explained that the excessively hot weather across the Mediterranean in recent months caught many forecasters - and their software systems - off guard. After the heatwaves died down, based on precedence, their software continued to predict weather that was way too hot, creating the vastly inaccurate forecasts reported by Weltwoche.

SRF explained that while they have occasionally received complaints about inaccurate temperature forecasts in Europe in the past, the phenomenon has been brought to a head by the recent heatwaves. The readings from Europe, sent automatically to the broadcaster, are generated by older software that is bad at reacting to extreme weather changes, meaning they are more prone to making the wrong predictions when conditions fluctuate - something all forecasters have to deal with as the climate continues to change. 

Bucheli assured that the inaccurate data only applies to forecasts for other parts of Europe, noting that weather predictions for Swiss cities and cantons are made using a different, more accurate algorithm. He concluded that the forecast broadcast every night will remain accurate and that they are analysing the data from Europe to try and find a solution.

Thumb image credit: Michael Derrer Fuchs / Shutterstock.com