In Austria, children playing were surprised by a landslide. One of the children died. Read everything you need to know in the weather ticker.

7:55 p.m.: Two children were buried in a landslide in Styria this afternoon. According to the Styrian fire department, a raised edge in a forest had broken off. One of the children was quickly freed, but the search for the second child took an hour. For this child, any help came too late, the fire department spokesman told the German Press Agency.

The landslide occurred around 5 p.m. in the municipality of St. Marein near Graz, as the “Kleine Zeitung” reports. The children were buried under the approximately 60 cubic meters of earth while playing. Initial suspicions suggest that the incident was caused by heavy rain that had lasted for days and soaked the earth.

Contrary to initial reports, two other children who were present were not affected. According to the “Kleine Zeitung”, the accident occurred just 50 metres from the children’s parents’ house. “We dug with our hands and shovels and gave it our all,” said the Feldbach fire brigade association. The operation was also difficult for the emergency services to cope with. According to the ORF, a mother was there with her two own children and two friends’ children. The child who died is said to be five years old.

12.10 p.m.: After more than one and a half weeks, the flood situation in Bavaria is coming to an end. “By Thursday at the latest, the last Danube water levels will leave the warning levels,” the state’s flood intelligence service (HND) announced on Wednesday. On the Altmühl and Amper, as well as on Lake Starnberg and Lake Ammersee, the lowest warning level of one is expected to be exceeded for several more days. However, since “no significant precipitation” is expected for the coming days, it can be assumed that the flood situation is coming to an end.

On Wednesday, the Swabian district of Donau-Ries became the last Bavarian municipality to lift the state of emergency. In many areas affected by the flood disaster, clean-up work was still underway, basements were being pumped out and damage was being assessed. The number of known fatalities in Bavaria remained at four on Wednesday, and a 22-year-old firefighter was still missing.

According to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, around 84,000 helpers have been deployed to help with the flooding in Bavaria since the disaster began. Around 7,000 evacuations were necessary because of the flooding. According to a preliminary forecast, German insurers expect insured losses of around two billion euros from the flooding in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. The total damage caused by the floods in the Free State cannot yet be quantified.

Wednesday, June 12, 2024, 7:09 a.m.: On Wednesday, people in Berlin and Brandenburg can expect temperatures of up to 20 degrees Celsius and rain. There may still be some sunshine at the start of the day, but heavy cloud cover and showers are to be expected during the day, according to the German Weather Service (DWD). In the north of Brandenburg, short thunderstorms with sleet are possible. Only in the region between Elster and Oder-Spree will it remain predominantly dry. In the evening, showers are to be expected to subside in the rest of the country.

According to the DWD, the first half of Thursday night will remain slightly cloudy and dry. Rain is expected again from midnight. Temperatures will drop to as low as five degrees during the night.

Tuesday, June 11, 12:38 p.m.: In view of the further easing of the flood situation in Bavaria, the city of Passau in Lower Bavaria has lifted the state of emergency. The water levels on the Danube and Inn are slowly falling again, the city administration announced on Tuesday. The water level of the Danube is currently still at the second highest warning level, three. However, warning level two is expected to be reached as early as Wednesday. According to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior, the state of emergency on Tuesday only applied to the two Swabian districts of Günzburg and Donau-Ries.

Tuesday, June 11th, 5:43 a.m.: People in Berlin and Brandenburg must prepare for a windy Tuesday. As the German Weather Service announced this morning, thunderstorms are expected, especially between Prignitz and Oder. Storm gusts of up to 70 kilometers per hour are possible, particularly near thunderstorms. Temperatures will climb to a maximum of 19 degrees. It may also rain repeatedly throughout the day. The wind should slowly die down towards the evening. It will then remain dry and only slightly cloudy overnight into Wednesday. A light wind will blow with lows of six degrees.

Monday, June 10, 8:29 a.m.: Meteorologists are expecting cooler weather in Germany next week. The start of the week will bring a cooling effect across the entire northwestern half, the German Weather Service (DWD) announced on Sunday. With occasional showers of rain, temperatures there will reach a maximum of 15 to 18 degrees. “At least the sun will still shine in the south and southeast during the course of the day,” said DWD meteorologist Nico Bauer. Temperatures there could rise to just over 20 degrees, it was said.

“On Tuesday, cool, autumnal showers will finally set in across the country,” said Bauer. In addition to sunny spells, heavy rainfall is also expected. In the north, there will be local thunderstorms and a gusty westerly wind. It may be stormy at times on the coasts. Maximum temperatures will be between 13 and 19 degrees.

On Wednesday it will be overcast and rainy in the south and southeast. Isolated showers are also expected in the north. In central Germany, however, it will be partly sunny and dry. Temperatures will rise to a maximum of 15 to 20 degrees. According to meteorologists, the changeable and unseasonably cool weather will continue until Thursday.

7.20 p.m.: The German Weather Service is currently warning four districts with warning level 3 (red) of severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail.

There is also a warning of severe thunderstorms in other districts in the south of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg with level 2 (orange), as well as in the north on the coast.

6:22 p.m.: Heavy thunderstorms and heavy rain with hail are threatening six districts. The German Weather Service has therefore issued an official severe weather warning.

Sunday, June 9, 6:09 p.m.: Heavy thunderstorms and heavy rain with hail are threatening four districts. The German Weather Service has therefore issued an official severe weather warning.

The DWD writes: “Isolated thunderstorms are moving in from the southwest. There will be heavy rain with precipitation amounts of up to 30 l/m² in a short time, as well as heavy gusts of wind with speeds of around 90 km/h (25 m/s, 48 ​​kn, Bft 10) and hail with grain sizes of around 3 cm.”

11.35 a.m.: The water level of the Danube is falling, but there is still no time to give the all-clear: The Bavarian Flood Warning Service (HND) expects that the rain forecast in the Alps will cause the water level in individual Danube tributaries and on the Danube to rise again by Monday. However, according to information from Sunday, the experts are not expecting floods like last weekend. The highest warning level 4 is not predicted anywhere.

Many municipalities and districts continue to believe that a state of emergency is necessary. Things were particularly critical in Regensburg recently, for example, because the water was only receding very slowly. The city has been under a state of emergency since June 3. The water level at the Iron Bridge measuring point was around 2.70 meters on average on May 28, after which the water level climbed continuously until the morning of June 5 to reach 6.17 meters. On Sunday morning, the HND reported 4.28 meters.

11.22 a.m.: Almost a week after the floods, the Lower Bavarian district of Deggendorf has lifted the current state of emergency. The district announced that the Danube is expected to fall below reporting level 3 on the four-level scale during the course of Sunday. According to the Flood Intelligence Service (HND), flooding of agricultural and forestry areas is still possible at level 2, which is expected in the district. Despite the lifting of the state of emergency, around 200 firefighters are still deployed at the dams.

“This major event has shown us once again how important it is to expand flood protection,” said District Administrator Bernd Sibler when the flood protection measures were lifted. “I would like to thank everyone who helped to ensure that our region was spared from major damage.”

10.22 a.m.: Following the storms in parts of Austria, the civil defense alarm for the particularly affected community of Deutschfeistritz was lifted on Sunday. As a fire department spokesman explained, there were no reports of possible injuries or even deaths. In the town of 4,000 inhabitants north of Graz, a flash flood swept away cars and damaged numerous houses on Saturday evening.

The Übelbach had overflowed its banks after torrential rain. According to meteorologists, more than 100 litres of rain per square metre had fallen in a short space of time. A mudslide hit the motorway near Graz. Because of the masses of earth and rubble, both lanes were initially closed on Sunday.

The gusts also caused numerous trees to fall onto the streets. Several routes are still closed, a police spokesman said on Sunday. The fire brigade was deployed to clear up the damage. Around the state capital Graz alone, the fire brigade had to respond to more than 800 storm operations, wrote the “Kleine Zeitung”. A nursing home in Neudau in Styria had to be evacuated because it was under water, a disaster control spokesman told the APA news agency. “A total of 40 people were brought to safety.”

On Sunday, the weather had initially calmed down. However, further thunderstorms during the course of the day could not be ruled out, according to meteorologists. The risk of severe weather was particularly significant in Tyrol, they said.

You can read more about the current weather conditions on the following pages.