Climate change is reality. This is confirmed by long-term climate observations in Switzerland and worldwide. Global warming is clearly caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions. It has already triggered noticeable changes, which will continue to intensify in the future. The Swiss climate scenarios describe how our climate could change as global warming continues. The expected consequences of unchecked climate change for Switzerland include more hot days, dry summers, heavy precipitation and winters with little snow. The new climate scenarios were developed by MeteoSwiss and ETH Zurich under the umbrella of the NCCS.
The Climate CH2025 climate change scenarios
Key findings of the climate scenarios
Climate change is particularly evident in Switzerland
Climate change is particularly evident in Switzerland and is already having a significant impact. Globally, temperature has risen by 0.9 °C since pre-industrial times up to the reference period 1991–2020. Global temperatures have continued to rise since 1991–2020 and are currently 1.3 to 1.4 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The observed warming in Switzerland is around 2 °C up to the reference periode 1991–2020 and around 2.9 °C by 2024. This significant warming will have far-reaching consequences in Switzerland.
More extreme heat
Maximum temperatures in Switzerland are rising markedly faster than average temperatures. Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and more intense. The impacts of extreme heat have already increased significantly, particularly at low altitudes and in urban areas. These trends are set to continue in the future.
Drier summers
Over the past three decades, soils in Switzerland have become increasingly dry in summer. The causes include higher temperatures, increased evaporation, and decreasing summer precipitation. Summer drought and weather-related forest fire risk will continue to increase with climate change.
More frequent and more intense heavy precipitation
Heavy rainfall events are occurring more frequently and are more intense today than in the first half of the 20th century. With climate change, Switzerland must expect a further increase in heavy rainfall across all seasons in the future.
Less snow
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the zero-degree line in Switzerland has risen sharply. At high altitudes, precipitation increasingly falls as rain rather than snow. As a result, snow cover is decreasing and the melting of snow and ice is accelerating. This is accompanied by a decrease in the number of frost days and ice days. This trend will continue to intensify in the future.
Every tenth of a degree counts
How much and how quickly the climate continues to change depends on future human greenhouse gas emissions. To meet agreed climate targets, the international community must reduce its emissions rapidly and significantly. Every reduction lessens the impacts, including those in Switzerland. At the same time, adaptation to ongoing changes is essential, with the severity of impacts guiding the scale of measures taken.
Further and more detailed information can be found on the MeteoSwiss website. There you will also find all information about the past and present climate.
Reports, data and graphics from Climate CH2025
Graphics and data in the Climate CH2025 Web Atlas
Explore the results of Climate CH2025 yourself with the CH2025 Web Atlas! The Web Atlas provides access to graphics and data and covers all regions and stations, all seasons, and all global warming levels. Various graphical representations highlight different aspects of the climate scenarios and allow you to quickly access the information that interests you.
Brochure
The brochure summarises the key messages of the current Swiss climate scenarios.
Scientific Report
The Scientific Report describes the methods and results of Climate CH2025 in detail. It is aimed at researchers and is available in English here.
Climate CH2025 - datasets
The available data sets from Climate CH2025 include daily time series of meteorological variables at stations (DAILY-LOCAL) and on a high-resolution 1 km grid (DAILY-GRIDDED). These large data sets are primarily intended for further processing by computer models.
Cantonal fact sheets on climate change
The update of the cantonal climate scenarios based on the results of Climate CH2025 is currently in progress. The cantonal climate scenarios based on CH2018 remain available here.
Project partners
Last modification 04.11.2025
