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Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – There is one day every year when you know that winter has arrived: it can’t be defined clearly by a drop in the temperature or all the leaves suddenly disappearing or even by snow arriving, but it is tangible. Saturday 7 November, winter settled in, in the Swiss Alps.

Sunrise was more dramatic than it has been for months, clouds banked at the end of the Rhone valley, temperatures began to slide down gently and pristine white peaks were clearly visible for much of the day. Leaves eased off the trees and families raked them up while farmers called their cows into the barn earlier in the evening.

Weather forecast

The weather forecast for the week in the Alps and the Jura is for snow down to 800-1,000 metres, with rain elsewhere. Highs of 5-6C. Skies should clear briefly later in the week, with temperatures on the plain and near Lake Geneva rising to 11C, slightly warmer in the mountains.

See complete set of photos “Swiss Alps welcome winter” in the GenevaLunch photo album.