Snow on Christmas day is fairly rare across most of Switzerland.
Meteo Suisse has compiled a list of snowy Christmas periods (24/25/26 December) at various locations over the 80 years to 2016.
When assessing the chance of snow, altitude is a key determinant, so the range is significant in Alpine Switzerland.
Over 80 years, the small town of Zollikofen, which lies just outside the city of Bern and sits at 557m, has been white 1 out of 4 Christmas periods. In Neuchâtel, which sits at 479m, the figure falls to 1 in 11, and in Lugano, a city at 273m, it falls to 1 in 12.
At higher altitudes the odds of a white Christmas rise significantly in Switzerland. In Einsiedeln, which sits at 900m, 3 in 4 Christmases were white over the 80 year period.
In the winter resort of Davos (1,600m) there has been only one year since 1931 when there was not snow on the ground from 24 to 26 December. In 2016, there was no snow on the ground on the 24th. Snow only arrived on the 25th and remained on the ground on the 26th.
For snow lovers there is a possibility of some snow on Christmas day this year even in some lower altitude locations. Geneva, Bern, Lausanne and Zurich are all forecast to have a few fakes fall, although probably not enough to deliver much of a covering – Swiss Meteo 6-day forecast.
More on this:
Meteo Suisse blog (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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