What are the chances of a white Christmas in Swiss cities in 2024?
By Jan de Boer
With Christmas fast approaching, many will be hoping that all the cheer of the season will be added to with a dusting of snow - nature's festive cherry on top. Now, meteorologists have made their predictions as to whether Switzerland will get a white Christmas this year. Here's what they had to say:
Temperatures set to plummet across Switzerland
In the alpine nation, a white Christmas is declared if at least one centimetre of snow falls on the Bundesplatz in Bern on December 24, 25 or 26th. In the week leading up to the big day, this feels unlikely.
Most of the week before December 24 will see warm temperatures and scattered showers across Swiss cities, with the snow line staying stubbornly around 2.000 metres above sea level. However, SRF Meteo predicts that the weather in Switzerland will turn at the perfect time to make a white Christmas possible.
From December 20, the mercury will plummet to near freezing in lower areas, while between 15 and 30 centimetres of snow will fall above 1.000 metres in the northern areas of the Alps. Chilly conditions will continue until December 23, when even colder temperatures will bring the snow line to between 500 and 300 metres, where it will remain until Christmas Eve.
Will Switzerland get a white Christmas in 2024?
SRF Meteo predicted there is a 50 / 50 chance of a white Christmas in Swiss cities in 2024. The chances of places like Zurich and Geneva seeing a white Christmas rely on two major factors. First, forecasters noted that Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day are likely to see strong stormy winds, which could stop the snow from properly laying.
Second, meteorologists predicted that temperatures will rise significantly at some point between Christmas and New Year. If this warm front of air arrives early, the chances of snow in lower altitudes will be dashed for another year.
However, snowfall in towns and villages above 600 metres above sea level is still very likely during the holidays. A white Christmas is also not in doubt in Swiss ski resorts, with areas above 1.000 metres above sea level forecast to see at least a dusting of snow.
Snow in Swiss cities is an increasing rarity
Due to climate change, white Christmases are becoming a rarity in Swiss cities. Though alpine resorts like Davos only see a non-white Christmas once a few decades, on average Bern only gets snow once every four years.
In fact, you have to go back to 2013 to see snow in Zurich during the Christmas season, 2014 for Bern, 2012 for Lugano, 2010 for Geneva, Basel and Aarau, and 2003 for Lucerne. The only large city which has enjoyed a white Christmas in recent memory was St. Gallen, which had snowfall in 2021.
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Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most of his life in Zurich and has worked as a journalist, writer and editor since 2016.
While he has plunged head-first back into life in Switzerland since returning to the country in 2020, he still enjoys a taste of home at pub quizzes and karaoke nights.Read more