Hail and strong gusts: Thunderstorm front affects flight operations in Zurich
updated
A thunderstorm cell with heavy rain is moving across Switzerland from the west. At Zurich Airport, passengers had to be patient on Sunday morning as the storm delayed the handling of various aircraft.
- from
- Philip Coradi
- Yasmin Roesner
Enjoying the long weekend in the best weather? Not quite. A thunderstorm-prone weather phase already reached Switzerland in the night on Pentecost Sunday – and also affected flight operations at Zurich Airport in the early morning. Passengers who landed from Johannesburg at six in the morning, for example, were told nothing works anymore. You were not allowed to leave the machine because of the storm for the time being, apparently it was too dangerous for the ground staff to unload the plane.
As a spokeswoman for Zurich Airport says, the delays were caused by lightning warnings. Exactly at the time when various first flights were supposed to take off on Sunday morning, no machines could be refueled or dispatched for 20 minutes due to the weather conditions. According to the spokeswoman, worse was expected, but the airport was spared the hailstorm. With the second front, which is likely to hit Zurich at around eleven o’clock, there may be delays in air traffic again.
The thunderstorm cell moved into the country from the west and intensified during the night. The storm brings gusts, hail, strong thunderstorms and heavy rain.
A news scout filmed the thunderstorm over Bümpliz BE during the night, providing a foretaste.
Also included in Bümpliz BE:
Improvement from midweek
On Monday, the temperatures on the southern edge of a high altitude low over the North Sea will be a little lower in the north, and there will be a mix of sun and clouds and a few thundery downpours, especially in the mountains.
On Tuesday it will remain changeable and the risk of showers will remain higher: Compared to Monday, significantly more downpours and local thunderstorms are to be expected. In addition, the temperatures are going down again.
In the second half of the week, a high pressure ridge should slowly expand towards us, which will lead to stabilization – thunderstorms will then no longer be an issue for the time being.