A severe storm hit Saarland on Friday evening. The German Weather Service has lifted the severe weather warning, but there is still a risk of flooding in Saarland. Read everything important in the weather ticker.
10:03 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.
9:55 p.m.: The Saarland state capital Saarbrücken, as the lower disaster control authority, has lifted the major disaster situation following the severe flooding. The acute rescue and security measures have been completed and the water levels are continuing to fall, 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. You can find the current map with the flood values 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.
4:07 a.m.: Due to the storm, there are massive disruptions and cancellations in train and rail replacement services in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Deutsche Bahn announced that unnecessary trips to Saarland should be avoided. According to the weather conditions, the railway was unable to set up replacement services. Several regional train and regional express lines are affected, which run, among other things, via the main train stations in Pirmasens, Trier and Saarbrücken.
4:04 a.m.: A federal state in a state of emergency: After constant rain and flooding, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to get an idea of the situation in Saarland on Saturday together with Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (both SPD). Meanwhile, the major clean-up work is expected to begin after daybreak. Heavy, continuous rain caused floods and landslides in the small federal state in western Germany on Friday. Initially nothing was known about anyone injured. The German Weather Service (DWD) canceled all severe weather warnings in Germany early Saturday morning. As a result, there were no longer any warnings of “extremely heavy, continuous rain” in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, as the DWD announced.
3 a.m.: The German Weather Service (DWD) lifted all severe weather warnings in Germany early Saturday morning. The DWD said there was no longer any warning of “extremely heavy, continuous rain”.
However, in the north of Baden-Württemberg and in the Vorderpfalz, the DWD continued to warn of continuous rain until 8 a.m. on Saturday. In addition to the amounts of rain that have already fallen, between 15 and 20 liters per square meter are expected locally.
As a spokeswoman for the situation center in Saarbrücken said early on Saturday morning, there are no longer any evacuations underway in Saarland. The situation has remained unchanged since Friday around 11 p.m. Heavy, continuous rain caused multiple floods and landslides in Saarland on Friday.
According to the district administration, the situation in the Trier-Saarburg district in Rhineland-Palatinate had also calmed down on Saturday night after the extreme, continuous rain.
2.50 a.m.: After extreme, continuous rain, the situation in the Trier-Saarburg district calmed down on Saturday night, according to the district administration. “The levels of the Saar and other bodies of water are reaching their peak or are beginning to fall,” said the district’s technical operations management on Saturday morning shortly before 2 a.m. Up to that point, the situation had not gotten any worse for a few hours. But it is still labor-intensive.
The evacuation of the lower-lying districts in Schoden an der Saar was successfully completed by early Saturday morning. According to the district administration, 220 people were accommodated in a gymnasium in Saarburg-Beurig. A retirement home was also evacuated in Saarburg and a hotel in Trittenheim on the Middle Moselle. Around 50 people were affected and were accommodated in a gymnasium. In Trassem, three people who were trapped in their houses due to flooding were freed by rescue workers. The Trier-Saarburg district announced this on X (formerly Twitter).
You can read more about the current weather situation on the next pages.
