Thunderstorms lash Switzerland, stranding thousands, cancelling 70 flights and shutting roads
Severe thunderstorms across Switzerland on Tuesday night triggered over 700 emergency responses in Zurich, forced the cancellation of 70 flights and disrupted a Linkin Park concert before causing road and rail blocks in mountain regions.
Thunderstorms strike Switzerland
A line of violent thunderstorms swept across Switzerland on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, bringing torrential rain and hundreds of thousands of lightning strikes. SRF Meteo reported over 25,000 strikes, while other sources counted around 250,000. According to MeteoSwiss, the commune of Flühli (Lucerne) recorded the highest rainfall total with 100 millimetres, followed by Opfikon (Zurich) with 91 mm and Zurich Airport with 66 mm. In Zurich alone, emergency services responded to more than 700 call-outs for flooded underpasses, waterlogged basements and overflowing streams.
- Flühli
- 100 mm
- Opfikon
- 91 mm
- Zurich Airport
- 66 mm
Zurich Airport paralysed
The storm hit Zurich Airport hardest. Over 30 inbound aircraft were diverted to Stuttgart, Geneva and Basel on Tuesday evening, while departures were suspended. Swiss Chief Operating Officer Oliver Buchhofer said the thunderstorm was longer, more intense and more stationary than forecast and settled directly over the airport. By 7 a.m. on Wednesday, 70 flights had been cancelled, affecting more than 10,000 passengers. Many travellers were left stranded overnight, receiving emergency kits and sleeping at the terminal. The airport obtained exceptional permission to allow 14 arrivals and 15 departures after the usual 11:30 p.m. curfew, but the backlog persisted. Flight operations resumed largely normally on Wednesday morning.
The thunderstorm was longer, more intense and more stationary than forecast and settled directly over the airport.
- Zurich emergency services switch to weather mode
- Over 30 flights diverted from Zurich Airport
- Linkin Park concert interrupted for 50 minutes
- Exceptional flight permissions granted for late operations
- Mudflow blocks road in Valais
- Rail line in Obwalden reopens after seven-hour closure
- 70 flights cancelled; operations resume at Zurich Airport
Central Switzerland cut off
In the mountain cantons, heavy rain triggered mudslides and flooding. In Uri, a mudflow on the Susten Pass forced road closures, while a landslide blocked the lakeside road in Seedorf until early morning. In Obwalden, rail traffic on the line between Alpnach Dorf and Alpnachstad was suspended for seven hours. Further west in Valais, a debris flow of up to 1,500 cubic metres of mud and rock covered the cantonal road near Le Bouveret, with no reopening date announced.
Concert suspended and regional damage
The storms also interrupted the Linkin Park concert at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium. The performance was halted for about 50 minutes before resuming. In the Bern region, intense rain caused 12 reports of fallen trees and water ingress in buildings, though no injuries were recorded.
Passenger accounts of long journeys
Travellers caught in the disruption described frustration. One Edelweiss passenger from Crete told 20 Minuten her flight circled for an hour before diverting to Stuttgart after 11 p.m. "We received no information, neither during the flight nor afterward," she said. She eventually shared a taxi to Zurich at a cost of around 550 euros. Another passenger on a Berlin–Zurich flight said he was left without a hotel, receiving only an apologetic email. Such accounts were common as thousands remained stuck at the airport or scrambled to reach their destinations.
