Freezing rain took its toll on the canton’s roads from Saturday evening until 2 a.m. Sunday. Nearly 11 accidents have been recorded on Friborg land involving around thirty vehicles, according to information from the cantonal authorities.
In Vuisternens-devant-Romont and Epagny, a series of accidents, involving around ten vehicles, required road closures for around 2 hours, no injuries were reported. On the Givisiez side, several accidents involving around ten vehicles occurred. Three individuals were slightly injured, but no ambulance was mobilized.
On the morning of Saturday January 4, the Federal Meteorological Service warned the population that special attention should be paid to freezing rain, as it could cause traffic lanes to freeze. A level 3 out of 4 alert (significant danger from very slippery surfaces with possible disruption to air, rail and road traffic) was published via the MeteoSwiss X account.
For this Sunday, January 5, the MétéoSuisse website is forecasting a few more showers in the canton of Friborg between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. The temperatures are much milder, 8 to 10 degrees. Black ice should not form below 900 to 1000 meters altitude during the evening of this Sunday.
Swiss air traffic disrupted
Freezing rain, frost and snowfall disrupted air traffic on Saturday evening and Sunday morning at Zurich-Kloten Airport. Around fifty flights had to be cancelled.
-The Zurich hub operations department confirmed to Keystone-ATS on Sunday the cancellation of 40 flights on Saturday evening, then a dozen more on Sunday morning. The Sunday deletions, unlike those of the day before, were not directly linked to the weather in Zurich, but to cascading effects. Several crews were not present because they were held up at other airports.
In Geneva, at least six flights were canceled on Sunday morning, to German and British destinations, as well as to Copenhagen and Zurich.
The canton of Jura affected
In French-speaking Switzerland, disruptions due to the weather mainly affected the Jura and the Trois-Lakes region. In Jura lands, freezing rain caused a few accidents on Saturday evening, but without particular seriousness, according to the police and regional media.
The warm weather was very noticeable. Temperatures remained positive overnight from Saturday to Sunday almost everywhere in Switzerland. The natural hazards map indicated a marked risk of avalanche (level 3) in many alpine regions.
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