The German Weather Service (DWD) registered the highest temperatures of the year for Germany so far on Saturday with 38.8 degrees Celsius in Bavaria. While it is still very hot and dry in many parts of southern Europe, people in Germany were able to breathe a little easier after the hot Saturday. The feared severe storms are largely absent, but a cold front brought a change in air masses, as a DWD expert explained. Meanwhile, the German Foundation for Patient Protection is calling for patients to be permanently protected from heat.
“Without billions of dollars in investments from the federal and state governments in the 1,900 hospitals and 12,000 nursing homes, a national heat protection plan is pure waste,” criticized Eugen Brysch, head of the German Foundation for Patient Protection, to the German Press Agency. “The heat protection for existing buildings in hospitals and nursing homes must be in place in three years. New buildings without a spatial temperature limit of 25 degrees in the residents’ rooms are also not allowed to go into operation.” Brysch demanded that the Bundestag had to adapt the heating law during the summer break “to protect the old and sick”.
Significant temperature differences
The temperatures in Germany will now diverge significantly in the coming days. According to the DWD, showers and short thunderstorms are forecast at the start of the week in the north at a maximum of 24 degrees, and the temperatures on the North Sea are even below 20 degrees. The situation in the south and southwest is completely different, according to the DWD, warm, humid to hot air continues to dominate here at a maximum of 31 degrees. On Monday and Tuesday, downpours and heavy thunderstorms are possible during the day from the Alps to the Danube and to the Black Forest. Even individual storms with heavy rain are not excluded here.
Very high temperatures are no longer expected for the time being. The DWD measured the highest value on Saturday afternoon in Möhrendorf-Kleinseebach, Franconia, according to preliminary data 38.8 degrees. Temperatures of over 30 degrees were measured throughout the east of the republic as well as in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. In contrast, it was not quite as hot in north-west Germany.
German temperature record in 2019
The previous record for this year was 38.0 degrees on July 9th in Waghäusel-Kirrlach in Baden-Württemberg. The German temperature record is still a long way from all these values. According to the DWD, 41.2 degrees Celsius were measured on July 25, 2019 at the stations in Duisburg and Tönisvorst. Last year, for example, 40.1 degrees were recorded on July 20 in Hamburg-Neuwiedenthal.
