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WEATHER

Torrential rain swamps Berlin’s streets, stretches firefighters to limits

Hours of monsoon-style rain in Berlin on Thursday flooded busy streets and led trees to collapse onto train lines.

Torrential rain swamps Berlin’s streets, stretches firefighters to limits
A car drives along Yorkstrasse in Berlin. Photo: DPA

The rain started shortly after midday and still hadn’t stopped by the evening. Much of the inner city had been brought to a standstill late on Thursday, with water levels often reaching up to knee height, while sirens wailed up and down the main streets.

Shortly before 9pm, the fire services reported that they had been called out 2,000 times during the day, a level of operations normally only seen on New Year, Tagesspiegel reports.

Volunteer fire teams were also called in to support their professional colleagues in pumping water away from streets and out of cellars, with 700 fire personnel on operation.

The capital’s transport network also took a beating in the storms. The Autobahn in the south of the city was blocked off at the Alboinstraße exit in Tempelhof, leading to a huge tailback of traffic. The A100, one of the busiest roads in Germany, was also shut down in the west of the city near the Funkturm.

Flooding also caused streets to be closed down in several other locations across the city. In York Strasse the water on the road underneath the S-Bahn line was so deep that cars could no longer drive through it on Thursday evening.

The Berlin Transport Company (BVG) also announced that the U9 metro line had been partially closed. Meanwhile the S-Bahn line S25 was shut down in the north of the city after a tree fell onto the track.

At some U-Bahn stations the flooding was so severe that the water levels rose above the platforms. At many stations trains simply drove straight through without stopping.

Flights were cancelled at Tegel Airport, while inbound flights were redirected.

In Charlottenburg, in the west of the city, a building was evacuated after fire services deemed it at risk of collapsing.

One particularly dramatic video posted to Facebook showed a bus flooded with water and passengers having to hold their feet up to avoid a soaking.

The bad news? There is no end in sight.

Forecasters predict heavy downfalls on Thursday evening in Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

And on Friday the south of Germany will have to brace itself for the vicious weather. Heavy rain and gusts of up to 75 km/h are predicted for Baden-Württemberg.

WEATHER

Spring to arrive in Germany with temperatures of up to 21C

The moment many people around Germany have been waiting for is almost here: as of Thursday, temperatures are expected to crack the 20C mark and stay warm through the start of spring.

Spring to arrive in Germany with temperatures of up to 21C

Whether it’s the pink cherry blossom trees which have started to bloom, lighter evenings or people walking around with ice cream cones, the signs of springs have already started to show around Germany in March.

Now the weather is also catching up: following rain storms on Wednesday, the mercury is expected to reach at least 20C in many parts of the Bundesrepublik on Thursday. 

READ ALSO: Seven signs that Spring has arrived in Germany

First there’s some damper news: On Wednesday, Germany – in particular the southwest – is expected to be hit by the storms. In the Black Forest, 30 to 40 litres per square metre will fall by midday, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

In the Alps, light snowfall will set in above 1,000 to 1,200 metres, with fresh snowfall of around five centimetres expected. 

The rain will ease by the following morning, but it will remain cloudy.

Up to 21C on Thursday

On Thursday, after the morning the fog disappears, people can look forward to a sunny and dry day – especially in the south and western parts of Germany. 

Temperatures will rise to a pleasant 14 to 21C degrees, with the highest values on the Upper Rhine. 

In mountainous areas and by the sea, it will remain somewhat cooler at 10C to 14C. 

Friday will be characterised by changeable weather: there will be sunny spells as well as rain showers, which will spread from the west and may be heavy in places – including thunderstorms. 

Temperatures will be between 14C and 18C degrees, and in the Lausitz region in eastern Germany it could even reach a warm 20 degrees.

Warmer weeks

While this Sunday could still see some single digit temperatures in northern parts of Germany – such as 9C in Berlin and Hamburg – the coming week is set to experience continually warmer weather, remaining at 14C and higher. 

The first day of spring officially begins this year with the Spring Equinox on March 19th. The days will become even lighter in Germany after Daylight Savings Time, which this year takes place in the early hours of Easter Sunday, or March 31st.

READ ALSO: Everything that changes in Germany in March 2024

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