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WEATHER

How high is Germany’s risk of forest fires right now?

There's a serious downside to Germany's current spate of dry, summery weather and that's a risk of forest fires. So just how big a risk is there?

A firefighting vehicle is pictured as smoke from a wildfire is seen in Beelitz, southwest of Berlin, eastern Germany
A firefighting vehicle is pictured as smoke from a wildfire is seen in Beelitz, southwest of Berlin, eastern Germany, on June 19, 2022. A combination of hot, dry and windy weather has increased the risk of forest fires in Germany. Photo: Odd ANDERSEN / AFP 

According to the German Weather Service DWD’s forest fire index, the risk is high to very high across much of the country until Tuesday.

The danger is greatest in the northeast where the highest warning level – level five, shown as dark red on the map – is in force in several places.

There are red level 4 areas in Lower Saxony, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate.

But levels of at least three are forecast for some regions of all of Germany’s states. 

The maps show the risk of forest fires across Germany from Saturday to Wednesday (L to R). Dark red areas represent the highest risk level, level 5.

Where are the fires at the moment?

The number of larger forest fires in Germany is manageable at the moment.

A fire on a former military training area near Jüterbog, south of Berlin has been burning since 31 May as wind keeps fanning the fire over the area, which is over 700 hectares.

This is not the first time the area south of Berlin has been affected by massive forest fires. In August 2018, over 600 people were evacuated from their homes after a fire broke out in the former military training area.

And last year there were more than 500 fires in forest-dense Brandenburg – the highest number in years.

READ ALSO: Germany’s biggest forest fire of the year continues to spread near Berlin

A fire in a 50-hectare forest and moor area near Göldenitz, south of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has also been burning for a few days.

Why is the risk so high right now?

The lack of rain over the past few weeks in conjunction with high temperatures, wind and low humidity, can increase the risk of forest fires, according to DWD information.

Temperatures are well above 25C across much of Germany on Saturday.

The top layers of soil are bone dry in many places, said DWD agricultural meteorologist Andreas Brömser.

This applies to large parts of the north and east, but also to some areas in northern Baden-Württemberg, parts of Saarland, Franconia and the Upper Palatinate.

In some areas, the upper soil layers are as dry as they would usually be in August.

This situation is unlikely to change in the short term, either.

According to the DWD, there are no forecasts for persistent rain across the country.

It would need to rain for a prolonged period so that the water could soak through the bone-dry soil – dried-out soils can generally not absorb water quickly enough during short bursts of heavy rain.

Should you be worried about the impact on your health?

The high levels of smoke produced by forest fires can have health consequences, but if you can only smell the fire, it’s not a health risk at that point, said Torsten Bauer from the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine.

Toxic gases and harmful soot are produced during combustion, but these only become dangerous when you can also see the smoke and fire, the lung specialist said. 

Those with lung or respiratory diseases, such as asthma, should be particularly careful as the pollutants can narrow the airways and soot can also cause lung damage.

So what should you do?

If there is a forest fire nearby, make sure you keep the windows closed.

READ ALSO: Hundreds evacuated near Berlin as forest fire threatens villages

What causes most forest fires?

Reckless behaviour plays a big part, according to experts.

“Campfires, barbecues or cigarette butts thrown away carelessly pose a high risk,” said Torge Brüning, fire protection engineer at R+V Versicherung.

Are there rules in place to help prevent fires?

Yes, there are strict rules in force across the country to protect forests. Open fires are strictly prohibited in all forests and nature reserves in Germany – with campfires, grills and camping stoves all falling under the ban. 

And, from March to October, there is also an absolute ban on smoking in forests across the country.

In some states, forests are smoke-free zones all year round. These include Brüning in Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.

Anyone who breaches the ban can expect to receive a hefty fine. 

READ ALSO: More floods, droughts and heatwaves: How climate change will impact Germany

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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.

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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