The Lake Geneva region has already been hit by severe weather events in recent days, such as in Morges, pictured here.
Keystone / Laurent Gillieron
The canton of Geneva is cancelling all permits for events planned at public venues from 2 p.m. on Saturday. This comes after a severe weather warning: a storm is expected in the region from late afternoon.
According to a statement from cantonal authorities, there is a high probability of stormy gusts reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h in Geneva in the afternoon. There may also be large hailstones, lightning strikes and heavy rain showers.
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The cancellation affects, among others, the fan zone at Plainpalais in the city of Geneva, where 15,000 spectators were expected at 6 p.m. for the start of the European Football Championship match between Switzerland and Italy.
MeteoSwiss had already warned on Friday of an “explosive weather cocktail” that would brew late on Saturday afternoon, particularly in western Switzerland: there is a threat of violent thunderstorms that, due to their possible supercell structure, could favour strong gusts of wind and hail.
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According to meteorologists, the arrival of warm and very humid air in Switzerland with temperatures of up to 21 degrees at around 1,500m above sea level, coupled with the daytime warming in the course of the afternoon, will lead to strong instability.
Translated from German by DeepL/gw
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