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WEATHER

Easter holiday weather: What can Germany expect?

After a blast of warm weather, spring weather has taken a turn for the worst in recent days. But there’s good news as we move into Easter week.

Published: 12 April 2019 16:27 CEST
Easter holiday weather: What can Germany expect?
Photo: DPA

This is a German language-learner article. Vocabulary words have been italicized.

With many states in Germany starting their school holidays on Monday, the weather outlook at first appears to be a bit disappointing.

On Friday and Saturday forecasters from the German Weather Service (DWD) said that very cool air had come into the country leading to low digits across Deutschland.

With highs of around 8C in Berlin (and lows of 2C), while in western Germany the temperature will struggle to get above 4C, it's not the best start to spring.

It's all the more disappointing after last weekend's flurry of sunshine that pushed temperatures over 20C in some places.

SEE ALSO: Seven signs that spring has arrived in Germany

Forecasters said there could even be some sleet and frost in the early hours of Saturday, particularly in mountain regions.

“In regions with dense cloud cover at night, however, the risk of frost and therefore also the risk of icy conditions is low,” added DWD expert Sebastian Schappert on Friday.

Good news ahead

However, over the course of next week the cool air shifts its focus to western Russia, which means milder air will gradually spread over Germany, allowing spring to make its comeback.

Forecasters predict that on Good Friday temperatures could reach above 20C in some parts of the country.

The highest temperatures are expected in the Rhineland area (forecasters predict 22C). In other areas it will be between 17 and 19C.

However, at the North Sea and Baltic Sea it will probably feel a little fresher, with highs of about 14C.

Over the long Easter weekend, which lasts through Monday, April 22nd, the best weather is expected to be in the northern half of the country, which will have dry and sunny spells.

Over the course of next weekend, it could be changeable in the west and southwest of Germany so keep an eye out for weather forecasts nearer the time to get a better picture of the scenario.

Best to bring your Übergangsjacke (in-between-seasons-jacket) if you're talking part in an outdoor Easter egg hunt, just in case.

SEE ALSO: German word of the day: Übergangsjacke

Vocabulary

Very cool air – sehr kühle Luft

Changeable – Wechselhaft

Easter – Ostern

Good Friday – Karfreitag

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Do you have any suggestions? Let us know.

 

 

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Record heat deaths and floods: How Germany is being hit by climate change

Germany was further confronted with extreme weather conditions and their consequences last year. With this summer likely to break records again, a new report shows the impact climate change is having.

Published: 22 April 2024 11:28 CEST
Record heat deaths and floods: How Germany is being hit by climate change

In 2023, more days of extremely high temperatures were recorded than at any time since records began, the European climate change service Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) wrote in a joint report published on Monday. 

The records go back to 1940 and sometimes even further.

“2023 has been a complex and multifaceted year in terms of climate hazards in Europe,” said Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Director Carlo Buontempo. “We have witnessed widespread flooding, but also extreme forest fires with high temperatures and severe droughts.” 

These events have put a strain on natural ecosystems, and have also challenged agriculture, water management and public health.

According to the report, around 1.6 million people were affected by floods last year, and more than half a million people were affected by storms. The weather- and climate-related damage is estimated at well over 10 billion euros. “Unfortunately, these numbers are unlikely to decrease in the near future,” Buontempo said, referring to ongoing human-caused climate change.

Heat turns deadly, even in Germany

Averaged across Europe, 11 months of above-average warmth were recorded last year, with September being the warmest since records began in 1940. 

A record number of days with so-called extreme heat stress, i.e. perceived temperatures of over 46C, was also registered. 

As a result of higher temperatures, the number of heat-related deaths has risen by an average of 30 percent over the past 20 years.

According to the Robert Koch Institute, at least 3,100 deaths in Germany were linked to heat in the first nine months of 2023.

“In some cases, for example heat stroke, heat exposure leads directly to death, while in most cases it is the combination of heat exposure and pre-existing conditions that leads to death,” RKI explained in a statement, adding that women tend to be affected more than men due to higher proportion of women in older age groups.

In Germany temperatures above 30C are considered a heatwave. As weather patterns change due to human-caused climate change, heat waves have increased in number and length.

READ ALSO: How German cities are adapting to rising temperatures

Historically Germany hasn’t faced so many severe heatwaves each year, and central air conditioning is not commonly found in the country. In cities across the Bundesrepublik, heat plans are being drafted and refined to try and prepare for further extreme heat events in the near future.

Delivery van stuck in flood

A delivery van stranded in flood water during a storm surge near the fish market in Hamburg last winter. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bodo Marks
 

Warming oceans and mountains and more rain

On average, the seas around Europe’s coasts were warmer than at any time since at least 1980. 

READ ALSO: Colder winters and refugees – How changing ocean currents could impact Germany

It was also much too warm on the glaciers in 2023. “After the record ice loss in 2022, it was another exceptional year of loss in the Alps,” Copernicus and WMO wrote. In these two years, the glaciers in the Alps lost around 10 percent of their volume.

Interestingly, the excess meltwater may be boosting hydroelectricity production in the short term. According to the report, conditions for the production of green electricity in 2023 were very favourable, with its share of the total electricity mix at 43 percent, the highest seen so far.

Overall, seven percent more rain fell last year than average. It was one of the wettest years on record, the report said. 

In one third of the river network in Europe, water volumes have been recorded that exceeded the flood threshold. There were severe floods in Italy and Greece, among other places, and parts of northern Germany were affected at the end of the year.

Hamburg and the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein were among regions hardest hit by floods in Germany last year. Northern sections of the Elbe river rose high enough to submerge Hamburg’s fish market several times among other places.

READ ALSO: Germany hit by floods as October heat turns into icy spell

2024 likely to continue breaking heat records

The recent report by Copernicus and the World Meteorological Organization is in agreement with a UN report published last month, which noted that last year came at the end of “the warmest 10-year period on record” according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

“There is a high probability that 2024 will again break the record of 2023”, WMO climate monitoring chief Omar Baddour said, according to Science Alert.

Another year of record breaking high temperatures means Germany can likely expect more and longer heatwaves in the late spring, summer and early autumn seasons. Higher average temperatures are also correlated with an increase in extreme weather events like extreme storms and floods in parts of the country.

In drier parts of Europe it means an increase in droughts and wildfires.

With reporting by DPA.

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