Germany updates: Severe storms hit several states – DW – 06/01/2025
06/01/2025
June 1, 2025 Storms caused damage in parts of Germany overnight
Hail as big as ping pong balls hit many parts of Germany over the weekend Image: Bernd März/imago images
Strong thunderstorms, heavy rain and hail, and gusty winds caused chaos in parts of Germany over the weekend.
In the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular, the storms have flooded basements and streets and uprooted trees.
Within a few hours, there were hundreds of emergency calls. However, no injuries were reported.
Some outdoor events had to be canceled at short notice, including an open-air concert on Münsterplatz in Ulm in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg and the 3RIDES Gran Fondo race in Aachen.
Today, the weather is expected to be warm, but occasionally unpleasant. The south, central, and eastern parts of the country are mainly affected, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
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6 days ago
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Drought has many faces and many impacts – DW – 06/17/2025
Extreme drought and water shortages are increasingly harming crops, the economy and the lives of people around the world. But drought doesn't have the same impact everywhere. What can we do to alleviate water crises? After a dry European spring, farmers across some parts of the continent are worried about this year's crops. And the concerns are notunique to Europe. As global temperatures are pushed up by the burning of coal, oil and gas, other parts of the world are also experiencing longer periods of drought. But not all droughts equal, and each type comes with its own set of consequences. Meteorological and agricultural droughts A study released this year by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) showed that periods of extreme drought have increased globally over the last 40 years. The global average of drought-stricken land has increased by around 50,000 square kilometers (about 19,300 square miles) every year, an area roughly the size of Slovakia. In Sicily, Italy, this former watering hole — once a vital resource for a local farmer — has been reduced to a sandy pit Image: Andrew Medichini/AP Photo/picture alliance People in northern Chile have been living with drought for the last 14 years, while in the southwestern US — states like Arizona, New Mexico and parts of California, for instance — the last three years have been extremely dry. Meteorological drought is defined by comparing actual conditions to the average amount of precipitation in a certain area, making them region specific. The German Weather Service, for examples, calls a meteorological drought a period of one or two months of unusually dry weather, with little precipitation. If the ground is parched, farmers are having trouble securing water, plants aren't growing properly and crops are reduced or even fail completely, it is known as an agricultural drought. Hydrological drought This occurs when water levels in rivers, lakes and underground natural reserves fall below a specific minimum, and freshwater supplies are almost completely dry. Hydrological drought often occurs after a longer meteorological drought. For the German Weather Service, that means a period of at least four months of unusually dry conditions. In October 2024, ships in Brazil's Rio Negro were left high and dry in one of the region's worst droughts since 1950 Image: Bruno Kelly/REUTERS More and more regions around the world are experiencing above-average dryness. By 2050, the World Bank has predicted that people living in much of Africa, Southeast Asia, parts of the US and South America will see even greater problems. 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Farmers in Cyprus struggle with water shortages To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Socioeconomic drought It's not always easy to strictly differentiate between the different types of drought, as several phenomena can occur in parallel. Most droughts that people actually notice are of the socioeconomic kind, according to Dirk Karger of the WSL in Switzerland. These occur when extremely dry conditions have a direct effect on society and the economy — when the lack of water make certain goods or electricity more expensive, or even scarce. During a period of extreme drought in Spain and Italy in 2024, there were times when water supplies were rationed. In the same period in neighboring France, several nuclear plants had to be temporarily shut down due to insufficient water to cool the reactors. 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Unlike these extreme weather events, droughts don't come with an early warning sign. And how bad a drought will end up being is only known long after it has begun. In the US alone, droughts are responsible for between $6-9 billion in damages every year. As a result, researchers are increasingly highlighting a fifth type of event: ecological drought. This describes how periods of extreme drought can destabilize animals, plants and entire ecosystems. How can cities adapt to water cycle 'whiplash'? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A severe drop in groundwater levels and soil moisture can lead to irreversible effects for ecosystems — and people. These include widespread crop failure, increased tree death, reduced ecosystem productivity and a threat to water supplies, WSL researchers highlighted in their study. Drought spares no landscape. A severe drought is almost immediately noticeable on grasslands, but these find it easier to bounce back after the rains return. Forests, on the other hand, can't recover as easily and may experience lasting damage from the same weather conditions. Drought also raises the risks in other disasters. A heavy rain after a long period of dryness, for example, can overwhelm dried out soils. The ground can't absorb the sudden masses of water, leading to flooding, landslides and raging mudflows. What can we do to save water and survive drought? To prevent droughts from becoming even more severe in the future, experts say we must do everything to limit climate change as quickly as possible. At the same time, people will need to adapt to increasing long periods without rain. Finding ways to use the available water more efficiently, both at home and in industry, is essential. Places like Singapore are leading the way when it comes to water conservation. This collection basin helps Singapore to collect and efficiently store rainwater Image: Aleksandr Simonov/Depositphotos/Imago Images The city-state in Southeast Asia is a world leader when it comes to collecting rainwater. Water reservoirs have been set up throughout the city, ready to collect any rain that falls from the sky. These reservoirs deliver drinking water during periods of dry weather, and help to cool the city during heat waves. Water treatment plants reclaim wastewater, turning it back into drinking water. So far, Singapore is one of the few countries to do so much to conserve water. Its strategy is an excellent example for other cities and regions, and could help them to prepare for water shortages. Efficiency is another potential way to save water. Around the world, cities lose huge volumes of the precious resource due to leaky or broken pipes. 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Local Germany
10-06-2025
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Will Germany see extreme heatwaves this summer?
June has started out cool with scattered showers across Germany so far, but current weather forecasts suggest that the country could see a widespread heatwave later this week. Longer-term seasonal forecasts suggest that Germany could be headed for a particularly hot summer, with higher than average temperatures from July to September, and likely also more heat waves than have been seen in previous years. But longer term weather forecasts are tricky, and a scorching summer is not yet certain. What do climate forecasts predict for the coming summer? According to the German Weather Service (DWD), average temperatures across Germany are expected to be higher each month this summer than the average temperatures seen in the same months from 1991 to 2020. The DWD's figures suggest that Germany could see summer temperatures comparable to those recorded last year. But a report by the Weather Channel says that Germany could see a heat-dome event from July. A heat dome happens when a high-pressure system traps hot air over a specific region, causing significantly higher temperatures and often prolonged heat waves. From July on, the Weather Channel puts the probability of Germany experiencing one of its hottest summers at more than 70 percent. READ ALSO: Which German cities are best prepared for extreme heat? Advertisement That said, long-term weather forecasts always come with a degree of uncertainty. Weather systems are notoriously complex – being affected by temperatures, air pressure, humidity, winds, as well as far-away influences like ocean surface temperatures. The climate model used by the DWD was developed by the University of Hamburg and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology. Rather than a simple weather forecast for the coming days, seasonal climate forecasts look at an ensemble of different weather prediction models. If the DWD creates an ensemble of ten initial parameters and eight of them predict a hot summer, then the probability of a hot summer would be 80 percent. What is known for sure is that, average temperatures have trended upward in recent decades due to human caused climate change. First summer heatwave expected from Thursday Following cool weather at the start of June – and scattered showers that brought at least temporary relief to drought conditions in much of Germany – weather forecasts are calling for high temperatures this week. "What we are experiencing here is a 180-degree weather turnaround," meteorologist Johannes Graf warned in a forecast for . As late as the Pentecost weekend, ground frost was seen in some parts of Germany. But from Tuesday temperatures are expected to rise rapidly, with high temperatures of 30C expected in the southwest by Wednesday. Daily high temperatures of around 30C are expected across much of the country on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which would mark the first heat wave in many places in 2025. (In Europe, heat waves are generally defined as three consecutive days with temperatures of 30C or more.) Advertisement Nighttime temperatures are also expected to be warm during this time – at around 20C in some places. These so-called "tropical night' conditions can be stressful, especially for older people and people with circulatory problems. Staying hydrated and ventilating the house at night are good practices during back-to-back hot days. READ ALSO: 8 places in North Rhine-Westphalia to escape the heat this summer Following high temperatures at the weekend, a period of cooler weather is predicted to follow one week later, along with heavy rain or hail and strong winds in some places. Meteorologist Dominik Jung suggested in a recent column that predictions of hotter and drier conditions through the majority of the summer don't seem to fit the wild weather swings that are currently being seen. "In my opinion, a consistent summer high is not in sight," Jung wrote. Instead he predicts roller coaster weather conditions and a "yo-yo summer".
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