Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and the Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's nearly 9 million people are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zurich, Geneva, and Lausanne.
The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. German, French, and Italian maintain equal status as official languages at the national level within the federal administration of the Swiss Confederation, while Romansh is used in dealings with people who speak it. Latin is occasionally used in some formal contexts, particularly to denote the country.
Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent of the lake belongs to Switzerland and forty percent to France.
HIRLAM, the High Resolution Limited Area Model, is a Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) forecast system developed by the international HIRLAM programme.
Cyclone Lothar is regarded as the worst European windstorm recorded during the 20th century. Crossing France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany between 25 December and 27 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar's average winds reached up to 115 km/h inland (Orly), but with gusts exceeding 150 km/h, almost equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane, resulting in 110 deaths and more than €15 billion in damage, becoming the costliest European windstorm ever recorded.
La Brévine is a municipality in the Neuchâtel Canton in Switzerland. It is the largest village in its eponymous valley, Vallée de la Brévine. The area is renowned for its complex microclimate, which is often much colder than nearby locations.
Grono is a municipality in the Moesa Region in the Italian speaking part of the Swiss canton of Grisons. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Leggia and Verdabbio merged into the municipality of Grono.
The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium is a Belgian federal institute engaged in scientific research in the field of meteorology. The RMI depends on the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The institute is a member of the World Meteorological Organization, of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, of EUMETSAT, and of the EIG Eumetnet.
Science and technology in Switzerland play an important role in the Swiss economy, which has very few natural resources that are available in the country. The Swiss National Science Foundation, mandated by the Federal government, is the most important institute for promoting scientific research.
MeteoGroup was a private weather forecasting organisation based in Europe, with offices in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. MeteoGroup provided weather information to markets that included transport, marine, agriculture, energy and the media. MeteoGroup had a portfolio of weather apps: WeatherPro, MeteoEarth and Magical Weather. In 2013, MeteoGroup was acquired by General Atlantic. In 2018, MeteoGroup was acquired by TBG AG.
The Central Institution for Meteorology and Geodynamics is the national meteorological and geophysical service of Austria.
The Federal Department of Home Affairs is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. Since 2024, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider.
The 2019–20 European windstorm season was the fifth instance of seasonal European windstorm naming in Europe. This is the first season in which the Netherlands meteorological authority took part, joining those of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It comprised a year from 1 September to 31 August, however names were announced six days into that year. The Portuguese, Spanish and French meteorological agencies again collaborated too, joined by the Belgian meteorological agency.
The Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology or INUMET for short, is the weather agency that provides meteorological and climatological services to Uruguay. It is also the aeronautical meteorological authority of the country in application of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (ICAO).
The National Meteorological Office (ONM), also known as Météo Algérie is the institution responsible for meteorological monitoring in Algeria. It is part of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and operates under the authority of the Algerian Ministry of Transport.
