It may come as no surprise to anyone who sweated buckets through June, July, and August that this year’s summer has broken Switzerland’s heat records.
According to meteorologist Roger Perret from MeteoNews weather service, the summer of 2026 “was the hottest since records began in 1864.”
“It was marked by exceptionally long heatwaves, with many locations seeing a record number of hot days (over 30C), very hot days (over 35C), and tropical nights. Furthermore, despite a relatively high number of thunderstorms, this summer was one of the driest on record and significantly sunnier than average.”
He added that “all-time heat records were also broken locally.”
One such case is Basel, where the mercury climbed to unprecedented 39C.
READ MORE: Why was Basel hit by highest temperatures during Swiss heatwave?
Summer of the century?
Perret said that even though some refer to it as such, “this designation would hardly be justified.”
“Due to rapidly progressing climate change, a summer like this year’s, or even a hotter one, is quite likely in the coming years. Climate models have shown that a summer like that of 2026 is expected to become the norm around 2070.”
Heatwaves are forecast to become more frequent, hotter and last longer in the future, due to climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Driest summer as well
The drought was particularly severe in northwestern Switzerland: the Jura, and large parts of the Plateau, where precipitation was at times less than 50 percent of normal rainfall for the season, Perret pointed out.
The situation has been less critical, on the other hand, in many locations across the Geneva region, Valais, Ticino, and parts of Graubünden.
From a long-term perspective, however, “this summer was one of the driest on record. Only the summers of 1962 and 1949 were significantly drier,” he said.
Looking ahead
In the first week of September, high temperatures are persisting – reaching and, in some regions exceeding, the 30C mark.
For instance, temperatures in Zurich Bern, Chur, Schaffhausen, Biasco, and Buchs are 30C on some days, and in Basel, 31C.
Geneva can claim the highest temperature for the first week of September 33C.
READ MORE: Switzerland set for one more blast of summer as temperatures spike
