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Drought in Switzerland: Europe’s ‘water tower’ runs dry

By Luigi Jorio (text), Vera Leysinger (photos)

Rivers reduced to trickles, scorched landscapes and forests taking on autumn colours weeks ahead of schedule: such scenes highlight the severity of a drought unmatched in Switzerland for decades. Since spring, Switzerland and much of Europe have been gripped by an exceptional drought. Between April 1 and July 31, around one-fifth of Switzerland’s monitoring stations recorded their lowest water levels for this period since measurements began, according to the Federal Office for the Environment...