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Record lightning strikes Germany

Over 600,000 bolts of lightning have struck Germany in the past week, a new record, the daily Bild reported Monday.

Record lightning strikes Germany
Photo: DPA

On Friday alone, 150,000 lightning strikes were recorded within a six hour period. Germany has never experienced as much lightning within a week as it has recently, the newspaper reported, though it did not cite sources.

Where there’s lightning, there’s often rain, and recent rainfall has also been of record proportions. Over 107 litres per cubic metre were recorded flowing into the Oder River on Friday, 1.5 times as much as in an entire month. Parts of Düsseldorf experienced major flooding after storms Friday.

Three people died due to lightning strikes over the weekend, the newspaper reported, with at least four others injured.

The storms were caused in part by hot, humid conditions across Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) said Monday temperatures will cool across the country this week as a low pressure area moves over the North Sea and Scandinavia.

Tuesday will see variable conditions with heavy clouds and periods of sunshine with showers and short thunderstorms. North-western and south-eastern Germany will be moist with highs of 20 degrees around the North Sea and 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) in eastern Germany.

The weather tease will continue into Wednesday with a mix of clouds, sun, showers and storms. Temperatures will range between 18 and 24 degrees. Things will cool down even more by Thursday, when it will be cloudy with occasional storms and showers and temperatures won’t exceed 22 degrees.

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WEATHER

‘Turbo spring’: Germany to see temperatures above 25C

Germany is set for a blast of warm weather in the coming week as the colder spell eases off.

'Turbo spring': Germany to see temperatures above 25C

“The late winter weather of the past few days with frost and snow is a thing of the past for the time being, and spring will kick into turbo gear over the next few days,” said meteorologist Adrian Leyser from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to rise sharply over the weekend with plenty of sunshine, forecasters said. In Germany anything above 25C is classed as a summer day. “The summer mark of 25C will be cracked regionally as early as Sunday,” said Leyser.

It comes as snow and hail hit Germany last week, and temperatures fell below freezing in some places.

But showers and thunderstorms are still possible in the west and north of Germany. Maximum temperatures there are expected to reach around 20C. 

According to the DWD, spring will get a little damper on Monday, with a few rain spells.  “However, the next low pressure system over Western Europe is preparing to turn on the warm air jet again from Tuesday,” said the meteorologist.

On Wednesday – which is a public holiday across Germany for International Workers’ Day – temperatures could soar nearer 30C. 

“In the south and east, we are even approaching the 30C mark,” said Leyser. However, the weather will remain “susceptible to disruption”, said Leyser, especially in the west where there is a risk of isolated and sometimes severe thunderstorms.

READ ALSO: What to do on May 1st in Germany

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