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WEATHER

Germany records highest ever temperature as mercury hits 42.6C

Germany has recorded its hottest ever temperature just a few hours after record-breaking highs, according to preliminary results of the weather service.

Published: 25 July 2019 15:58 CEST
Updated: 25 July 2019 18:14 CEST
Germany records highest ever temperature as mercury hits 42.6C
Cooling off in Lingen, Lower Saxony. Photo: DPA

The German Weather Service (DWD) confirmed that 42.6C was recorded at its station in Lingen, Lower Saxony in western part of the country, on Thursday at 6 pm – the hottest temperature since records began.

It came only a few hours after a new record of 41.5C was recorded in Lingen.

On Wednesday, a previous record of 40.5C was reached in Geilenkirchen, near Mönchengladbach.

Until yesterday, the previous heat record was 40.3 degrees and was measured in the summer of 2015 in Kitzingen, Bavaria.

The DWD tweeted to announce the “preliminary new temperature record” in Lingen.

Earlier on Thursday, the DWD said 40.6C was measured at the Bonn-Roleber station at 2.20pm.

But it could yet become even hotter as the mercury continues to rise.

READ ALSO: Germany braced for hottest day ever as temperatures to top 40C

Heat warnings issued

On Thursday, temperatures were expected to be between 32 and 37C in some areas, and in the hottest areas in the western part of the country, they were due to top 40C.

Forecasters said temperatures below 30C will only be found on the Baltic and North Sea coasts or on the mountains above 1000 meters. The highest temperatures of the day are usually reached at about 5pm.

Peak heat warnings were issued by the DWD.

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FLOODS

Four dead as floods sweep southern Germany

Rescuers battled Monday to evacuate people from floods in southern Germany that have claimed four lives, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it a "warning" that climate change was getting worse.

Published: 3 June 2024 16:39 CEST
Four dead as floods sweep southern Germany

Thousands of people in the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had to leave their homes since torrential rain on Friday sparked deadly flooding.

More evacuations were called overnight into Monday as the huge volumes of water caused flood defences to fail.

In Bavaria, around 800 people were asked to leave their homes in the area of Ebenhausen-Werk after a dam burst early Monday.

Residents around Manching-Pichl, in the area worst affected by the floods, were told to shelter on the upper floors of their homes.

Speaking on a visit to Reichertshofen, in a flood-hit area north of Munich, Scholz said that such floods were no longer a “one-off”.

“This is an indication that something is up here. We must not neglect the task of stopping man-made climate change,” Scholz told journalists.

The floods were “a warning that we must take with us”, he said.

READ ALSO: ‘No future’: How the climate crisis is changing Alpine ski resorts

‘Never before’

The Bavarian state premier, Markus Söder, who accompanied Scholz on his visit, said there was no “full insurance” against climate change.

“Events are happening here that have never happened before,” Söder said, after a state of emergency was declared by districts across his region of Bavaria.

Around 20,000 people in Bavaria alone had been deployed to tackle the consequences of the flood, he said.

The historic part of Heidelberg is flooded during high water of the Neckar river in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany on June 3, 2024.

The historic part of Heidelberg is flooded during high water of the Neckar river in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany on June 3, 2024. Photo by Daniel ROLAND / AFP

Police in Baden-Württemberg on Monday said a man and a woman were found dead in the basement of their house in Schorndorf following the flood.

The same fate befell a 43-year-old woman in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, whose body was found by rescuers earlier Monday.

The discoveries took the total killed by the floods to at least four, following the death of a volunteer fireman whose body was found on Sunday.

The 42-year-old volunteer died after his vessel turned over during a flood rescue operation.

Another volunteer, 22, was still missing after his boat also overturned overnight into Sunday.

A search operation to find the missing rescue worker had to be stopped due to the exceptionally high waters and strong currents, local police said.

The German Weather Service on Monday issued new warnings for heavy rain in parts of southern and eastern Germany.

READ ALSO: How floods are wreaking havoc across southern Germany

‘Rail delays’

The widespread flooding and continuous rainfall impacted transport in the region with widespread train cancellations and delays.

Train lines leading from Munich to Stuttgart, Nuremberg and Wuerzburg were unusable, rail operator Deutsche Bahn said.

A landslide near Schwaebisch Gmuend overnight into Sunday caused a high-speed train travelling between Stuttgart and Augsburg to derail, blocking the line. Nobody was hurt in the incident.

READ ALSO Trains cancelled in Germany due to severe flooding 

Despite Scholz’s pledge to combat climate change, a panel of experts separately said Monday that the government’s emissions forecasts through 2030 were unrealistic.

The government had underestimated future emissions in the transport, building and industry sectors, the climate panel said in a report.

Overall, the experts assumed that the government’s emissions-reduction target for 2030 “will not be met”.

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