Germans hoping for another weekend of beautiful sunshine to celebrate the Pentecost are set to be sorely disappointed, with the German Weather Service (DWD) predicting a plunge in temperatures accompanied by rain and clouds.

As an Arctic weather front moves in the air could in fact be colder than on Christmas of 2015.

Sunbathers will have to wait until the following weekend, when temperatures slowly creep back up into the 20s, before they can start putting their towels back on the lawn.

In the southeast of the country temperatures will peak at between 10 and 11 degrees on Sunday and Monday, and could dip all the way down to a chilly 3 degrees at night. The DWD even warns of the possibility of frost on the ground.

On Christmas Day temperatures in Munich hit 15 degrees, meaning the Pentecost weather is likely to be somewhat cooler.

It could even be a white Pentecost for the people of Bavaria – that is if they live 1,000 metres above sea level in the Alpine region where white flakes could soon be fluttering down.

In Cologne meanwhile, inhabitants rang in the birthday of the Christian messiah in 16-degree sunshine.

On Pentecost, the day when the holy spirit is said to have possessed Jesus’ disciples, the city on the Rhine will be shivering in a maximum 12 degrees, wetter.de reports.

Only in the north and northeast is the mercury set to peak above its festive heights.

In Berlin a high of 13 will outdo the 11 seen on Christmas, and in Hamburg the cooler Christmas high of 9 degrees will be beaten by a stormy and wet Pentecost when temperatures will peak at 13 degrees.

Source: DWD