Between April and August this year, Switzerland and central Europe have experienced the driest summer season since 1864. The forest especially seems to suffer from this dry spell: As early as August, trees began to turn brown this year. A current study by the University of Basel indicates now that native forest trees can cope much better with the drought than previously expected. It is, however, too early to give the all-clear as a consistently warmer and dryer climate might still put our native forests at risk.