The weather in Germany: From today the weather changes! Although it will even be up to 32 degrees, there is a risk of severe thunderstorms, especially in the west and north-west.
Thursday, May 19, 8:20 a.m.: In parts of Germany there is a risk of severe thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday. In Emsland, the German Weather Service (DWD) expects showers and thunderstorms as early as Thursday morning, in the west and northwest as well as in the Black Forest and on the Alps, especially from the afternoon. There can also be storms with heavy rain of up to 40 liters per square meter, storm or hurricane gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour and hailstones three centimeters in size.
The reason for the thunderstorms is a warm and increasingly very humid air mass coming from the west. During the day it gets muggy to hot, with temperatures of up to 27 and 32 degrees. In the southeast and east of Germany, on the other hand, it will be sunny and dry on Thursday.
According to the meteorologists, the thunderstorms will continue to spread on Friday night. In the west and southwest, renewed showers and thunderstorms are expected in some areas, in the north with individual, sometimes strong thunderstorms. According to the DWD, the potential for severe weather in the west and north is also “significantly increased” on Friday. Towards evening, heavy thunderstorms can also be expected in the middle of Germany.
On Friday morning there will be strong thunderstorms from the northwest and west to the eastern low mountain range. Later, the thunderstorms spread and sometimes heavy rain, heavy gusts of wind to hurricanes and larger hail are expected. Only in the north and north-east and in the south of Germany is there a low chance of thunderstorms. There will be a few showers in the south on Saturday night. On Saturday it cools down a bit and the showers and thunderstorms retreat towards the edge of the Alps. In the night to Sunday, the thunderstorms will also subside there.
Wednesday, May 18, 7:33 a.m .: The German weather service predicted a lot of sun and up to 31 degrees in the far west of Germany for this Wednesday. While daily highs of between 20 and 24 degrees are reached in the extreme north-east and south-east and on the coasts, there can be between 26 and 31 degrees elsewhere – the highest temperatures should be reached on the Rhine and Moselle, as the meteorologists in Offenbach predicted. In the extreme north-west and over some low mountain ranges there may be cumulus clouds, and brief thunderstorms are seldom possible.
A different picture then on Thursday: After an often cheerful start, it should be increasingly cloudy in the north-west and west over the course of the day, “particularly from the afternoon, strong thunderstorms with a risk of severe weather”, as the DWD predicted. In the Black Forest and on the edge of the Alps there can also be a few strong thunderstorms, otherwise it should be sunny and dry all day in the south-east half. In parts of the country it will be muggy to hot with maximum values between 27 and 33 degrees.
8:11 p.m .: The weather in Germany seems to be calming down after some violent thunderstorms. In the evening, the weather service in some districts is still warning of severe thunderstorms at level 2. Unlike at noon and in the afternoon, however, there is no longer a warning at levels 3 and 4. In these districts, residents still have to be prepared for heavy rain:
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Bayern
Brandenburg
Hanseatic City of Bremen
Lower Saxony
North Rhine-Westphalia
Saxony
Saxony-Anhalt
Thuringia
6:19 p.m .: In Essen, a man was struck by lightning while walking his dog on Monday and was critically injured. The 56-year-old had to be revived at the scene of the accident and was then flown to a special clinic, according to the Essen fire brigade. The storm front moving across the city also caused numerous basements to fill up.
5.35 p.m .: Heavy thunderstorms continue through Germany. While North Rhine-Westphalia was particularly affected in the early afternoon, the German Weather Service reported severe weather warnings on the red alert level in the late afternoon, especially in Bavarian districts. In these 35 districts, the DWD warns:
Baden-Wuerttemberg
Bayern
NRW
Rheinland-Pfalz
Thuringia
4:06 p.m .: After a start to the week with showers and thunderstorms in many places in Germany, the weather is slowly calming down again. The weather service only warns occasionally. Red alert (“Severe weather warning of severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail”) applies in 18 districts:
NRW
Hesse
Bayern
3:36 p.m .: In some districts there is still a purple alert (severe thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain and hail) and red (severe thunderstorm with heavy rain and hail). Specifically, the following groups are affected:
Violet Alert:
Rheinland-Pfalz
Hesse
Red alert:
NRW
Rheinland-Pfalz
Hesse
Bayern
2:53 p.m .: The first train cancellations are already occurring, for example in NRW. Because of a fallen tree on a train track in Andernach, long-distance trains between Cologne and Koblenz have to be diverted, Deutsche Bahn announced via Twitter. There will be no stop at Bonn Central Station, an alternative stop is Bonn-Beuel. There are delays.
Tip: Deutsche Bahn provides information about all current train cancellations via Twitter (@db_info).
2:29 p.m .: The storm warnings are spreading. Four circles are now on purple alert and ten circles are on red alert. The following districts are affected by the warning from the German Weather Service:
Violet Alert:
The German Weather Service warns of “severe thunderstorms with extremely heavy rain and hail”.
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rheinland-Pfalz
Red alert:
Here, the German Weather Service warns of “severe thunderstorms with heavy heavy rain and hail”.
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rheinland-Pfalz
Hesse
Baden-Wuerttemberg
From yellow to violet: This is what the colors of severe weather warnings mean
1:44 p.m .: Now there is also a red alert in eight circles! The following districts are affected by the warning from the German Weather Service:
North Rhine-Westphalia
Rheinland-Pfalz
Monday, May 16, 8:41 a.m .: The first thunderstorms form in the west and south of Germany in the morning. Until the late afternoon we are dealing with a full-fledged storm situation. Two thunderstorm lines are formed, which move across the country.
But that’s not all. Because although there can be heavy rain with up to 30 liters per square meter during thunderstorms and there is also hail, the two lines unite at night. That means hours of continuous thunderstorms from Hamburg to Dresden. Floods can occur quickly. Be careful with underpasses or near the river – this can quickly become dangerous. The all-clear can then be given on Tuesday morning.
Hot Saharan air has arrived over Germany again. And that’s why we also have a strong thunderstorm situation on Monday and in the night to Tuesday. But that’s not it. Because although it cools down a bit on Tuesday, the hot air is coming back.
From Wednesday it will be blazing hot and on Friday another thunderstorm is imminent. Unlike on Monday, it could also be enough for supercells on Friday. Then the risk of tornadoes increases. By the way, the heat this week reaches 32, maybe even 33 degrees on the Rhine.
Sunday, May 15, 1:54 p.m .: After sunny days, the week starts with showers and thunderstorms in many places in Germany. As early as Monday night, the first showers are expected to move in from Switzerland and France, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced in Offenbach on Sunday. After a calm morning, thunderstorms are expected to increase again from Monday afternoon. By the evening, the south-west half of the country was particularly affected, i.e. “roughly speaking, all regions west of the Weser and parts of Bavaria and Thuringia,” said a meteorologist from the DWD.
There is a risk of storms in some areas, and hail and gusts of wind could also occur occasionally. However, the DWD emphasized that not every thunderstorm leads to a storm. “But where the thunderstorms form, local flooding and flooded basements or underpasses must be expected,” said the meteorologist. According to the DWD, temperatures from the Oder to Schleswig-Holstein rise to 19 to 24 degrees, in the rest of the country the maximum values are 23 to 28 degrees.
In the following days the weather should calm down again. It could still rain in places until Tuesday afternoon. Otherwise, according to the DWD, there is mainly a mix of sun, dense clouds and individual showers with maximum values between 19 and 28 degrees. It will be even friendlier on Wednesday. Plenty of sun with temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees are to be expected. “Only east of the Elbe is it a little less warm at 20 to 24 degrees,” said the DWD meteorologist.
You can find more information about the weather on the following pages.
