The weather in Germany is not calming down. There is a threat of thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain locally in the new week. Read everything important in the weather ticker.
Tuesday, May 28th, 2:40 a.m.: Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain triggered several fire and police operations in the east and south of Bavaria on Tuesday night. Overall, according to the police, the situation was limited. There were no injuries.
In Lower Bavaria, the heavy rainfall led to flooded cellars and streets in many places, especially in the Straubing area. There was also some flooding in Upper Bavaria, said a police spokesman. Accordingly, Weilheim and Rosenheim were particularly affected. A sawmill burned in Gars am Inn late on Monday evening. Police suspected a lightning strike was the cause of the fire.
Due to a lightning strike, the power went out in parts of Augsburg on Monday evening, as the police announced on Tuesday morning. According to the municipal utilities, the lightning shut down two substations, a police spokesman said. In the city center and in the east of Augsburg, people remained without power for just over an hour.
The German Weather Service (DWD) issued a severe weather warning for Swabia and Upper Bavaria for Monday evening. Among other things, warnings were given about falling trees, high-voltage lines and scaffolding, as well as landslides and aquaplaning.
8:36 p.m.: Severe storms hit Bavaria on Monday evening. There were heavy thunderstorms, especially in the south of the country, around Munich. The German Weather Service has issued a red alert warning of severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail in 17 districts.
4.15 p.m.: There is a risk of severe weather in the south in the late afternoon and evening. A line of thunderstorms from the Ulm/Memmingen area is moving towards Augsburg and Munich. A supercell could also form. There is a risk of up to 70 liters of rain per square meter. Local flooding may occur. There could also be isolated large hail.
The thunderstorms will reach Munich between 7 and 9 p.m. During the night the thunderstorms will remain active and weaken and move further to the northeast.
Meteorologists agree that the overall weather situation is dangerous. There is a risk of a significant flood situation developing at the weekend. It is possible that a heavy rain area will develop like the flood disaster in July 2021.
Monday, May 27, 2024, 7:03 a.m.: After heavy rain on Sunday in the north, people in Germany have to prepare for thunderstorms again on Monday. On Monday, heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected to move across the country from the south and center of Germany, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced in the morning.
In Baden-Württemberg, the probability of local thunderstorms with heavy rain will increase from midday. Local storms and gusts are also possible. In the west of the state it will initially remain mostly dry, but according to the DWD, short showers and isolated thunderstorms are also possible there in the afternoon. Maximum temperatures will be between 19 and 24 degrees, and in Lusatia and Lower Bavaria temperatures could rise to 26 degrees.
According to the forecast, on Tuesday night there will be showery, sometimes long-lasting and heavy rain in a strip from the northwest to the southeast. Thunderstorms are also expected locally.
Changeable weather is expected in Lower Saxony during Monday. It will be cloudy and mostly dry during the day, with occasional showers, as the German Weather Service announced in the morning. From the afternoon onwards, thunderstorms were increasingly possible, which turned into heavy rain in the evening and on Tuesday night.
The first strong thunderstorms with heavy rainfall of 25 liters per square meter would occur in southern Lower Saxony from the afternoon onwards. Over the course of the night, the focus of precipitation is expected to shift to the northern half of Lower Saxony and Bremen. Stormy rain could then bring up to 40 liters of water per square meter within a few hours. The rain is expected to gradually ease during the day on Tuesday.
According to the weather service, temperatures will reach highs of 19 degrees on the islands and 23 degrees in the Hanover and Göttingen area on Monday. On Tuesday night it cools down to 10 to 13 degrees. On Tuesday around 16 to 19 degrees can be expected.
People in Saxony-Anhalt will have to prepare for individual strong thunderstorms with local heavy rain on Monday. The thunderstorms from midday not only bring heavy rain with precipitation of around 20 liters per square meter, but also stormy gusts and hail, as the German Weather Service (DWD) announced on Monday morning. Accordingly, there is also a risk of severe weather locally due to heavy rain with up to 25 liters per square meter in a short period of time. The maximum temperatures are up to 25 degrees, in the mountains up to 20 degrees.
On the night of Tuesday the sky will be cloudy and there will be rain for several hours, some with thunderstorms. According to the DWD, there is also a risk of heavy rain here. Temperatures will fall to as low as 10 degrees.
Tuesday also brings rain and thunderstorms with temperatures of up to 18 degrees, in the Harz up to 14 degrees.
Heavy rain had already flooded basements in parts of northern Germany on Sunday and led to road closures. In Lübeck alone, the fire brigade spoke of 105 operations in connection with the weather in a statement from the evening. Mainly water was pumped out. People were therefore not injured.
In the Schleswig-Holstein community of Lasbek-Gut, northeast of Hamburg, a river burst its banks and flooded a large area of a street. 15 to 20 people were rescued from their homes, fire chief Sven Oberkofler told the German Press Agency. The water was 75 centimeters high. That is why boats from the German Life Saving Association were also deployed. There was also flooding in Buchholz, south of Hamburg. The fire department listed several operations on its website because cellars were flooded, for example.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the storms on Sunday led to several traffic accidents on highways 19 and 20. With the exception of one person who was slightly injured, the accidents all ended lightly, as the police announced in the morning.
Sunday, May 26th, 11:19 a.m.: Individual showers and thunderstorms follow people in Hesse into the new week. As the German Weather Service (DWD) announced, it will occasionally be wet from midday on Sunday, but it will remain warm at 22 to 25 degrees. However, individual thunderstorms with heavy rain and strong to stormy gusts are possible, especially in the north of Hesse. The meteorologists also do not completely rule out isolated storm-like developments.
Things will continue in a similar way on Monday: According to the DWD, people have to prepare for individual showers and thunderstorms with strong to stormy gusts. There may be occasional heavy rain. It will remain partly cloudy, but will be a little cooler with a maximum of 19 to 23 degrees.
There could also be some rain in the north of Hesse on Tuesday. Otherwise, according to the DWD, it will remain variable to very cloudy at a maximum of 17 to 21 degrees, but mostly dry.
The break in the rain won’t last long: the sky will be mostly cloudy on Wednesday and it can rain heavily at times, according to the forecast. Lightning and thunder are also possible, accompanied by squalls and local heavy rain. The temperatures therefore reach a maximum of 18 to 21 degrees.
Saturday, May 25th, 3:19 p.m.: Showers and thunderstorms are likely to dominate the weather in some parts of Germany in the coming days. The influence of low pressure is expected to last until the middle of the week, explained meteorologist Jacqueline Kernn from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Saturday in Offenbach. “Due to the high moisture content of the air and the low speed of the thunderstorms, a lot of rain can fall in a short period of time.”
There is a local risk of flooding, full basements and underpasses. “It is also possible for the thunderstorms to grow into larger areas of precipitation,” said Kernn. Then smaller streams and rivers could also swell and overflow their banks.
Sunday changeable, Monday cloudy
For Sunday, meteorologists expect a change of longer sunny periods and increasing cumulus clouds. Especially in the north and east, showers and sometimes strong thunderstorms with heavy rain can be expected from midday onwards. The maximum temperatures reach 20 to 25 degrees.
Monday is likely to be cloudy, but there may be heavy showers and thunderstorms again from central Germany towards the east. In the west, however, it will remain mostly dry, with short showers and isolated thunderstorms only possible in the afternoon. The maximum values reach 19 degrees in the Eifel and 27 degrees in Brandenburg.
The eastern half of Germany is also expected to receive heavy showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday – and there could also be heavy rain. In the western half it is likely to remain largely dry with highs of up to 22 degrees and in the east up to 25 degrees.
During thunderstorms, seek shelter indoors or in your car
During thunderstorms there is always a risk of lightning strikes, warned Kernn. “It is best to go indoors when a thunderstorm approaches. You are also safe from lightning strikes in a car.”
In principle, you have to expect squalls, especially during severe thunderstorms, but the danger is currently low due to low differences in air pressure. Since thunderstorms are difficult to predict accurately, it is advisable to monitor the weather and warning situation.
8:04 p.m.: The German Weather Service is warning of severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail in the Bavarian districts of Günzburg, Unterallgäu and Augburg, as well as in the city of Augsburg and Memmingen, until 9 p.m. “Local thunderstorms are approaching from the southwest. “There is heavy rain with rainfall amounts of up to 40 l/m² in a short period of time as well as squalls and hail,” said the DWD.
The DWD is also warning of strong thunderstorms in northern Germany, around Hamburg and Bremen.
You can read more about the current weather situation on the next pages.
