Severe thunderstorm in Switzerland forces Linkin Park to interrupt concert

Zurich Airport was also affected by the consequences. For around 30 minutes, there were no landings or takeoffs at Zurich Airport. An SRF reporter reported that all arriving aircraft were in holding patterns. The first flights were now being diverted to Basel, Geneva, and Milan.

Impact on air traffic and roads

In central Switzerland, the heavy rainfall led to significant disruptions on roads and rail lines. Heavy rainfall caused problems on roads and rail lines in central Switzerland. In the canton of Obwalden, a storm interrupted rail services on the IR and S5 lines between Alpnach Dorf and Alpnachstad. This was according to SBB rail traffic information. There was currently no way to travel between the two localities, and the duration of the disruption was unknown.

In the Urnerland, the A2 between Bolzbach and Seedorf had to be closed due to flooding. The TCS reported this on its website.

Rail traffic and landslide in the Urnerland

In the municipality of Seedorf in the canton of Uri, a landslide is reported to have occurred according to media reports. Two boulders then landed on a road. This adds the current events to a series of severe weather incidents: barely two weeks earlier, a young woman was fatally injured during a storm in Zurich.

The combination of heavy rain, hail, and landslides illustrates the force of the storm that hit the greater Zurich area and neighboring regions on Tuesday evening. The responsible authorities, including the federal government, SBB, and TCS, provided continuous updates on closures and diversions.

Observers noted that the brief duration of the heaviest rainfall further exacerbated the already tense situation in the region. The evening commuter flows were significantly disrupted by the closures, and air travelers had to brace for considerable delays.

How long the disruptions to rail and road traffic would last remained unclear late in the evening. The federal government maintained danger level 4, while emergency services and transport operators continuously monitored the situation.