© Fabrice Coffrini/AFPFlooding in Switzerland in 2006.
, one expert has warned.
"Devastating flooding" is a possibility, canton Bern's head of property insurance Ueli Winzenried told the
media, saying he was extremely concerned by the situation.
Cantons should take steps to lower the level of lakes so they can absorb the coming meltwater, he advised, while owners of property in risk areas should empty their cellars and arm themselves with sandbags.
The aim is to avoid a repeat of the situation in 1999, when heavy rain after a snowy winter caused lakes and rivers to break their banks, creating millions of francs of damage.
However it is still too early to know if Switzerland will face the same risks of flooding as back then. "We are not, for the moment, in the same situation as in 1999," Philippe Hohl, head of the water division in canton Vaud's environment department, told 20 Minutes.
In 1999 there was more snow in the mountains and the month of May was extremely rainy, a combination that led to the flooding.
Comment: See also this recent report from further south on the Canadian east coast : Wrong place, wrong time: Tricoloured heron and great white egret turn up in Nova Scotia, Canada