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Climate analyses and expertise

MeteoSwiss provides numerous types of information and data as a basis for climate analysis. It draws on its expertise to produce climatological reports and offer advisory services for past, current and future weather situations.

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MeteoSwiss offers numerous services in the area of climate and climate change. On behalf of the Swiss government, the experts at MeteoSwiss collect comprehensive climate data, which they then analyse and use to draft climate reports and develop climate change scenarios. MeteoSwiss thereby provides the basis for developing measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and to manage extreme weather events.

Together with its partners, MeteoSwiss is continuously developing the climate bases and analyses so that authorities and decision-makers always have access to the information they need.

Free climate information

The MeteoSwiss website offers free access to a wide range of climate information that enables users to understand Switzerland’s current and changing climate.

Overview of the main content:

The climate of Switzerland

The characteristics of Switzerland’s climate are described with the help of long-term averages, variations from these averages, as well as extreme and record values.

  • The different factors that influence the climate in Switzerland are explained.
  • The main measurement parameters used for describing the climate are:
    • Temperature: Maps and tables of spatial temperature distribution and parameters derived from these data, such as heat and frost days, climate diagrams and record values
    • Precipitation: Maps and tables of the spatial distribution of precipitation, climate diagrams, heavy precipitation, precipitation extremes and records, hail hazard and drought
    • Snow: Snowfall limit and snow depth graph
    • Sunshine: Sunshine duration and global radiation
    • Wind: Direction and speed
  • MeteoSwiss produces regularly updated analyses of recurring features of Switzerland’s climate, including the cold spell in June known as the “Schafskälte”, the spate of frost days in May, known as “Eisheiligen”, and the Indian summer, known as “Altweibersommer”.

Climate change

On the basis of the changes observed globally and in Switzerland, MeteoSwiss shows that climate change is happening, how Switzerland is being affected by it, and what risks it poses to the country. More specifically, information is provided on:

  • why Switzerland is warming to a greater extent than the global average, and how this affects the development of glaciers and snow cover;
  • how weather extremes such as hot days or heavy precipitation have changed over time;
  • why the observed climatic changes are almost exclusively due to greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activity;
  • the extent to which temperature and precipitation in Switzerland can be expected to change in the future.

MeteoSwiss has a mandate from the federal government to produce climate change scenarios on a regular basis in order to show the possible impacts of climate change. The Swiss Climate Change Scenarios CH2018 clearly indicate where and how climate change will affect Switzerland, depending on how greenhouse gas emissions develop. The scenarios represent the current scientific findings on climate change in Switzerland and allow the most accurate climate projects yet for the country.

Climate publications

MeteoSwiss publishes numerous reports on weather and climate trends in Switzerland and provides access to data on the historical development of weather and climate:

  • Climate bulletinsprovide a detailed overview of the weather patterns in the respective reporting periods and are produced on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis.
  • Climate reports provide a detailed analysis of the meteorological and climatological trends during the reporting year and summarise the current climate change developments in Switzerland. They are published annually.
  • Reports from GCOS Switzerland, the Swiss arm of the Global Climate Observing System (Swiss GAW/GCOS Office), which coordinates climate observations on a global scale (in English).
  • The Swiss weather archive:
  • Annals provide an insight into Switzerland’s weather and climate in the past, making these historical records available to the public.
  • Weather reports provide information about annual weather trends, available for 1861 to 1999.