A severe storm hit Saarland on Friday evening. The German Weather Service has lifted the storm warning, but there is still a risk of flooding. Thunderstorms are expected in seven federal states on Sunday. Read everything you need to know in the weather ticker.
9:31 a.m.: Persistent rain caused several fire brigade operations in the Bonn area. The town hall was also affected on Saturday, the fire department announced on Sunday. Rainwater entered the administration building in the center of Bonn, which the emergency services removed. The fire brigade also pumped water from an underpass that had become impassable and also from a blocked underground car park.
In nearby Königswinter, the Rhine overflowed its banks at a ferry pier. Several fairground showmen had to dismantle or relocate their rides at the beach festival in Mondorf – also near Bonn – on Saturday. There, too, waves splashed over the edge of the bank.
7.43 a.m.: As the German Weather Service warns in advance, there will also be strong thunderstorms in Germany on Whit Sunday. The meteorologists write that the storm band extends from North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate across Lower Saxony, Hesse to Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There is also heavy rain.
The DWD writes: “From late morning onwards, showers and thunderstorms will form in some areas. Local heavy rain with 15-25 liters per square meter in one hour is likely, isolated and narrowly limited. Danger of severe weather due to heavy rain of up to 40 liters per square meter in a short period of time cannot be ruled out. Wind gusts of around 65 km/h (Bft 7-8) and small-grain hail are also possible. Thunderstorm activity decreasing in the evening.”
Strong thunderstorms are also possible over southern Bavaria from midday onwards. According to the DWD experts, there is heavy rain locally with more than 25 liters per square meter in a short period of time. There could also be larger hail and squalls near the Alps. Here too, the thunderstorms will subside on Monday night.
7:21 a.m.: The Saarland state capital Saarbrücken lifted the major damage situation after the severe floods on the night of Whit Sunday. In numerous Saarland communities, water levels are falling and the situation is improving, the police said. The focus is currently on the town of Blieskastel. The inner and old town there continues to be flooded. However, the level of the Blies River has also been falling since midnight.
Sunday, May 19, 4:20 a.m.: The development of the flood continues to keep rescue workers and the population in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate busy. The immense damage is only slowly becoming visible. “The flood situation is still serious, but the situation is clearly easing in many areas,” said the Saarland Interior Ministry on Saturday. For the most part, the water is slowly receding. During the night into Sunday, the situation was initially unchanged.
“It is simply too early for both clean-up work and assessments of the damage,” said a spokeswoman for the Trier-Saarburg district of the German Press Agency. Drones have now been requested to get an overview of the extent of the damage from above.
10:26 p.m.: Thunderstorms are moving in from the southwest on Saturday evening. The southwest of Bavaria and parts of Baden-Württemberg are particularly affected. There may be gusts of wind, heavy rain and hail. On the edge of the Alps there may even be heavy rain with precipitation amounts of around 30 l/m² per hour as well as gusts of wind with speeds of up to 85 km/h and hail with grain sizes of around 3 cm. The districts of Traunstein and Rosenheim are particularly affected.
The German Weather Service (DWD) is warning of severe thunderstorms with heavy rain and hail in six districts of Bavaria on Saturday evening. The following districts are affected:
9.55 p.m.: The Saarland state capital Saarbrücken, as the lower disaster control authority, has lifted the major damage situation after the severe floods. The acute rescue and safety measures have been completed and the water levels continue to decline, the city’s press office announced on Saturday evening.
Accordingly, the focus is currently on clean-up work. According to the information, the emergency services, authorities and municipal departments will continue their work over the next few days to deal with the damage caused by the flood. Restrictions must also be expected in the affected areas in the coming days and weeks.
Enormous amounts of rain caused flooding, landslides and likely major damage in Saarland on Friday and Saturday night.
1.15 p.m.: Germany is currently divided in two when it comes to the weather: While there is a risk of forest fires in large parts of eastern Germany, more than 100 liters of rain in 24 hours have triggered a state of emergency in Saarland in some places. “The amounts of rain that we are observing, especially in the southwest, are already significantly above normal,” says Andreas Walter from the German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach. In the east, on the other hand, high evaporation can be observed due to the heat, and there is sometimes a high risk of forest fires. “This is also actually relatively early for the time of year.”
Temperatures of 23 to 25 degrees in the east – that’s normal to slightly too warm in comparison, says the meteorologist. “This weather situation is actually more like summer.” What is also special is that there is hardly any dynamism. “It’s all shifting very, very slowly.”
1:03 p.m.: After continuous rain and flooding in the southwest, the German Weather Service (DWD) is predicting less rain in the region over Pentecost. “The southwest can breathe a sigh of relief in that the long-lasting and heavy rainfall is gradually easing,” explained meteorologist Tanja Egerer from the DWD in Offenbach on Saturday.
11.50 a.m.: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in the flood area on Saturday morning. He speaks to the press together with Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger. “We see here what violence nature has, what destruction it can cause,” said Scholz. “It is a sign of cooperation that we can see here.”
This is where his short statement ends. Scholz and Rehlinger will now look on site to see what the flood has caused.
10:03 a.m.: The Prime Minister of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger (SPD), commented on the severe flood situation this morning. She told Saarländischer Rundfunk that the water levels would continue to rise and there was a risk of further flooding. The situation is “very tense”.
The current water levels in the six places in which the Saarland flood reporting service has recorded the highest warning level:
7:28 a.m.: After the extreme, continuous rain with flooding in Saarland, the situation had eased somewhat from the police’s point of view by early Saturday morning. The water levels have at least not risen since 1 a.m., said a spokesman for the situation center in Saarbrücken. However, the rescue workers are still on a large scale. The exact extent of the damage can only be properly assessed in daylight.
According to current knowledge, no people were killed in the severe storm with hours of rainfall and widespread flooding. One person was injured during an evacuation operation, said the spokesman for the situation center. A person fell into the water and was then taken to a hospital.
7:07 a.m.: The German Weather Service has lifted the severe weather warning across Germany. However, there is still an acute risk of flooding in Saarland. The Saarland Ministry of the Environment reports the highest flood level in five places.
The highest level, violet, applies in Niedaltdorf, Fremersdorf, Überherrn, Geislautern, Lebach and Ottweiler. The second highest level, red, also applies in six other places. The current map with the flood values can be found here.
4.38 a.m.: Because of the flooding in Saarland, a water rescue train from Bavaria set off for Saarlouis on Saturday night. The water rescue workers from Swabia are expected in the operational area on Saturday morning, as the Bavarian Red Cross announced. The forces were therefore requested to rescue and evacuate people from buildings and vehicles. According to the information, the water rescue team consists of boat and diving teams with at least 32 emergency services.
4.10 a.m.: The storm warning has been lifted, but the Rhineland-Palatinate flood reporting center still assumes that the Moselle will reach a water level of 9.44 meters on Saturday afternoon.
You can read more about the current weather situation on the next pages.