The heat wave that settled on the Lake Geneva Arc, Valais and Ticino will continue to continue and intensify in the coming days on Friday. It will even extend on Tuesday to certain regions of German -speaking Switzerland. According to Météosuisse, a temperature record is not expected in Switzerland, but these scorching episodes may be more and more frequent.
Météosuisse extended its degree 3 heat wave notice In French -speaking Switzerland and Valais until Sunday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the two hottest days, with temperatures between 35 and 36 degrees and which can even reach 37 degrees in the Geneva basin and central Valais.
Switzerland is not the only one concerned by this heat wave. The southwest of France, where temperatures exceed 40 degrees, is particularly affected. Bordeaux even broke its absolute heat record on Monday, recording 41.6 degrees.
No records in Switzerland
Several meteorologists are drawing a parallel with the scorching summer of 2003. That year, August had been- with June- the hottest month since the start of the measures in 1864. But if France broke its temperature records, Switzerland still remains on the sidelines of this phenomenon, explains Didier Ulrich, meteorologist at Météosuisse.
>> Read also: The fatal consequences of the 2003 record heat wave
“It is truly the southwest quarter of France which is affected. And, at times, these hot flashes overflowed on French-speaking Switzerland,” he said in the Forum program. “It is also for this reason that the Geneva and Valais region are the most affected”.
Due to a large anticyclone on the Mediterranean and depression off France, the situation is blocked above Europe. This depression also leads to a southwest current “which makes North Africa very hot air happen on Spain and then on France”, generating a phenomenon of “heat pump”. “And this current remains for several days, even for the full week on France,” adds Didier Ulrich.
>> Read also: Heat “of an exceptional level” expected in the southwest of France
More and more frequent heat waves
Despite the persistence and intensity of the heat this summer, it is still too early to know if this scorching episode is really extraordinary in Switzerland. This second heat wave “is relatively late,” said the meteorologist.
>> Read also: The heat wave strikes Switzerland for the second time this year
“But if we remember the year 2023, we had temperatures of the order of 37-38 degrees on French-speaking Switzerland and it was close to August 24,” he added. “So we are probably not going to beat the values we had in 2023, nor those we had in 2003, but we are still in values that are very high”.
However, it is necessary to expect the heat waves to multiply in the future, warns Didier Ulrich, recalling that the current heat wave is the second of summer.
>> Read also: More intense and more frequent heat waves in Switzerland
“Global warming will make these scorching periods much more frequent,” he predicts. “We could have three, four, perhaps five times a summer, probably interspersed with the air inlet of the ocean which would be a little fresher with thunderstorms”.
Interview by Julien Bangerter and Thibaut Schaller
Web adaptation: Emilie Délétroz