MeteoSchweiz - Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology
The Starting Point
The Problem
MeteoSchweiz needed a solution to present technically complex weather and climate information to the Swiss population in four languages in an accessible and intuitive way. The challenge was to make demanding data understandable for diverse audiences.
The Solution
As a general contractor, Quatico developed a tailored, specialized solution and operates it as a cloud-based service. The solution includes a map framework built on MapLibre, dynamic visualizations, weather-based 'pills', and barrier-free access in line with current technical standards.
The Implementation
The MeteoSchweiz web portal was built with state-of-the-art technologies and the highest quality standards:
Map framework built on MapLibre
A specially developed framework for displaying and interacting with geo-information. Enables intuitive navigation through interactive timelines.
137 products, continuously processed
Map, chart and text products are built from the 14.4 terabytes of data the platform processes every month. Weather pills provide dynamically expandable local forecast charts from anywhere.
Application and editorial system from one team
Quatico did not just build and operate the application: we also set up the headless CMS behind it, the one MeteoSchweiz uses to maintain its editorial content.
Automated quality gates
Continuous checks of accessibility, OWASP security standards, SEO, Core Web Vitals, and design consistency.
Highly available infrastructure
A fail-safe architecture resilient to outages of third-party systems. Designed for extreme peak loads during severe weather events.
Measurable Successes
The MeteoSchweiz web portal is a complete success, with impressive user numbers and shorter development cycles:
High user adoption
Over 60 million visits a year confirm the accessible data visualisation, in four languages and across every product. 47 per cent of those visits come from mobile phones.
Platform generation switched in live operation
Moved to server-side rendering in July 2026: 129 components migrated, content ready from the very first page load. No planned downtime.
Forecasts twice as often, four times faster
Forecast data used to travel through an intermediate system as XML: around 53 minutes from generation to publication, once an hour. The platform now reads the same CSV files as the MeteoSchweiz app, around 15 minutes, and every 30 minutes (measured on the test environment). One system less to operate, fewer sources of error.
Accessibility as a standing programme
Easy-read language as its own entry point in the main menu, pages in sign language, and continuously improved keyboard and screen-reader operation of menu, search and carousel.
Faster on mobile
Home page 17 per cent lighter, local forecast 33 per cent lighter through optimised fonts; product teasers in the modern AVIF format. Less waiting for users, lower transmission costs for MeteoSchweiz.
Tens of thousands of pages, generated and maintained continuously
4,071 postcodes and 622 alpine locations, up to the Dufourspitze, add up to more than 18,000 local forecast pages across four languages. On top of that come over 10,000 editorial pages in four languages and close to 4,000 blog posts in three, plus around 20,000 images in the archive. Since the start of 2023 the editorial site has grown by around 60 per cent.
Modern Technologies
Start ahead — on the CDS platform
With Quatico's Composable Digital Services (CDS) Platform, you start ahead of the curve. Use ready-made services for a fast project launch. And you get a functionally and technologically proven foundation that makes every integration succeed.
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