On this Christmas Eve, snow is everywhere in Switzerland, even in the plains. But it is in the mountains that significant rainfall can be expected.
In Verbier, in Valais, at the top of the slopes, we measured exactly 106 cm of snow this Monday morning and we expected another 44 cm more during the day.
In the station, the layer is already 40 cm and will increase hour by hour. Motorists who want to travel to the Alpine regions to spend Christmas are warned to take precautions.
During this 2024 holiday season, snow cover is abundant almost everywhere in the Alpine massif. The Myswitzerland.com website indicates that in St. Moritz in the Engadine, the altitude layer is 248 cm of snow in places (including 58 cm in the resort).
In Grindenwald in the Bernese Oberland, the height is 140 cm and the station is 30 cm. In Andermatt 125 cm and more than 80 cm in the station. In Leysin, the figures are 110 cm and 50 cm. On the other hand, in Les Diablerets, we measure a little less: 45 cm at the top of the slopes and 14 cm in the resort.
Furthermore, road disruptions were reported this Monday by the TCS in German-speaking Switzerland. The A1 motorway was closed between Berne Brünnen and Mühleberg, following a truck stopped across the road.
In the Solothurn region, on the A3, an accident truck also disrupted traffic. Rail traffic is also affected by this bad weather and the CFF indicates on its website that cancellations and delays are to be expected. Traffic was interrupted for part of the morning between Villeneuve and Saint-Maurice.
These heavy snowfalls this December already raise the question of the danger of avalanches in the mountains. In Valais several mountain roads are closed, in the Trient valley, in the Val de Bagnes and in that of Annivers.
According to the Whiterisk.ch website, the danger of avalanches is already very high (degree 4) throughout the region which goes from Lower Valais and crosses the Alps to Graubünden. It is marked (degree 3) in the Pre-Alps and in the Jura. It is limited (degree 2) on the Plateau and in Ticino.
