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WEATHER

Wacky weather: Snow and freezing temperatures come to Germany after Easter

Germany is in the grip of a cold front. And it's going to stay that way until at least the weekend, according to meteorologists.

Wacky weather: Snow and freezing temperatures come to Germany after Easter
Snow sleds on the Feldberg in Hesse on Tuesday. Photo: DPA

It’s snowing, hailing and raining – and in some parts of Germany temperatures have even dipped to below freezing, with thick blankets of snow covering the landscape. 

The reason is a persistent cold front, which will continue to provide cool weather that fluctuates between bursts of snow, rain and sun in the coming days. Germany lies in the influx of cold polar air from Arctic latitudes, wrote the German Weather Service (DWD) on its website. 

On Tuesday, the maximum temperatures around the Bundesrepublik will shift between -3C and 7C. 

Berlin will see both rainy and sunny weather, with a high of 6C. Snow showers will come to Hamburg in the early evening, with highs of 4C. Munich will also see light snow, with a maximum temperature of 3C and in Frankfurt there will be a mix of rain and snow, with highs of 7C.

“The coldest air mass possible at this time of year is right over Germany,” weather experts at Wetter.net wrote. 

Until at least Thursday, the daily maximum temperatures around the Bundesrepublik will remain in single digits, according to DWD.

In addition, there will be a mix of rain, snow and sleet showers throughout the country. 

In the low mountain ranges and the Alps, a few centimeters of fresh snow are possible each day, and at altitudes above 500 meters there may be permafrost.

Germany will warm up with sunny weather on Thursday, but – with a new rain band in the north – temperatures around Germany will again dip to lows of 8C on Friday.  

Easter eggs on a bush in Leipzig on Tuesday. Photo: DPA

While the mercury will go up over the weekend, there will still be rainy and cloudy weather around the country. 

“Accordingly, it will hardly be warmer than 13 to 14C next weekend,” according to the forecast at Wetter.net. On Saturday, Berlin will see temperatures of 11C, Hamburg 9C, and Frankfurt 15C. Munich, and other parts of southern Germany, will see the sun over the weekend, with temperatures up to 18C.  

With bad weather and icy conditions, there have also been several accidents recently, including two fatal crashes in north Germany on Easter Monday, when sudden snow resulted in slippery roads. 

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INSIDE GERMANY

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish ‘Mannschaft’

From what we can expect from voters at the European elections to what citizenship means to foreign residents and the Scottish take on the German word 'Mannschaft', here are a few things we're talking about this week.

Inside Germany: Becoming German, European election vote and the Scottish 'Mannschaft'

Inside Germany is our weekly look at some of the news, talking points and gossip in Germany that you might not have heard about. It’s published each Saturday and members can receive it directly to their inbox by going to their newsletter preferences or adding their email to the sign-up box in this article.

What can we expect as Germany goes to the polls for Europe?

On Sunday, EU citizens living in Germany will cast their vote to elect a new European parliament. 

A lot has changed since the last elections were held back in 2019 – the UK has since left the EU (meaning no Brits in Europe can vote unless they have an EU citizenship), we’ve experienced a worldwide pandemic and war has broken out in Europe. 

The big story of 2019 from Germany was the Green surge. 

Although the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) received the largest share of votes (28.7 percent), the Greens won more than 20 percent of the vote in Germany, increasing by about 10 percent from 2014.

Support for the conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) dropped considerably. 

So what can we expect from voters in Germany this time? 

According to recent polls, the conservatives are likely to secure a victory on the German side of things. The CDU and CSU will scoop up around 30 percent of the vote, according to surveys.

poster urging people to vote

A giant poster announcing the upcoming European elections, on the facade of the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, eastern France. Photo: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left SPD, on the other hand, is only polling between 14 and 16 percent. 

The poll figures for the Greens have fluctuated. The INSA institute reported in April that the Greens could receive 11.5 percent of the vote. But recent polls show the party receiving between 13 and 15 percent – a significant drop from 2019. 

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has also lost support. While pollsters INSA predicted the party would take 22 percent of the vote back in February, recent polls put them on 14 to 17 percent.

Meanwhile, the Free Democrats (FDP), currently in government with the SPD and Greens, have been hovering between just three and five percent in polls since the beginning of the year.

Aside from these well-known parties, there are also a number of smaller ones.

If you’re eligible to vote, who will you be choosing? Good luck at the ballot box and make sure to check The Local’s coverage as the results come in. 

READ ALSO:

Germany in Focus podcast

After devastating floods in Germany that have claimed lives and cause huge destruction, we talk about how communities are coping and the areas most at risk of flooding on this week’s podcast. We also get into predictions for the European parliamentary elections and answer a reader question on how much you need to earn to qualify for German citizenship, 

With the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament coming up on June 14th, we share some interesting facts about the stadiums involved and talk about the importance of football culture in Germany with guest Kit Holden. 

What does German citizenship mean to foreign residents in Germany?

With the new citizenship law coming into force later this month, we asked The Local readers to share their feelings about citizenship and the process in a questionnaire. More than 100 people filled out our survey in just a few days and were delighted to hear about the different experiences. 

In the first of our articles, we looked at what securing a German passport means to residents. 

Of 121 readers who took our survey, 81 percent intend to apply for citizenship, while 12 percent are still unsure. 

About six percent said they will not apply, and a few respondents had already naturalised. 

A German citizenship certificate and passport.

A German citizenship certificate and passport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

For many people, a huge benefit of citizenship is about gaining freedom of movement. 

“Free movement with the world’s strongest passport is the main goal here,” Khandakar Rahman from Bangladesh, told us. 

Others mentioned that they would feel more integrated – and have course receive full rights to voting. 

Kristian from Norway said the would “finally be an EU citizen, to be able to vote, and also to actually be German”.

READ MORE: What would German citizenship mean to foreign residents?

The Scottish ‘Mannschaft’ set to take on Germany 

As Germany is about to take on Scotland in the opener for UEFA Euro 2024, ad executives for the Scottish soft drink Irn Bru have outdone themselves. 

They’ve launched an advert playing around with the nickname for Germany’s national football – ‘Die Mannschaft’ 

READ MORE: German word of the day – Mannschaft 

I was keen to know what Germans felt about this advert featuring a guy in a kilt talking about how Scotland’s ‘Mannschaft’ may even reach the semis. 

While many Germans thought it was funny, a few pointed out that the advert technically doesn’t use the word correctly. 

One thing for sure is that the Scottish love it. 

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