A new heat wave has Germany firmly in its grip. Temperatures will rise at the weekend, up to 38 degrees are possible on Sunday. But be careful, in some places thunderstorms with heavy rain are forecast. Follow all important weather reports here in our ticker.
The local authorities had already started preparations for a temporary evacuation of the Tiefenbrunnen district on Saturday due to an expansion of the fire area. They had referred to the “increasing smoke development”. Emergency accommodation in the Treuenbrietzen town hall has been prepared for the affected citizens.
Sunday, June 19, 9:13 a.m .: After sweaty temperatures on Saturday, it could get even hotter in some parts of Germany this Sunday. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), up to 38 degrees can be expected in Jena and Cottbus, but not only the two cities in Thuringia and Brandenburg could top the record set the day before – so far the hottest day of the year: also in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, as well as Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, similarly high temperatures can be expected. A disaster was even declared near the town of Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg, because a forest fire there is getting worse and worse due to the acute drought and heat.
The midsummer weather drove many people to lakes or to the outdoor pool on Saturday. According to DWD information, the highest values at the Waghäusel-Kirrlach measuring stations on the Upper Rhine (Baden-Württemberg) and in Bad Kreuznach (Rhineland-Palatinate) were registered in the late afternoon with 37.1 degrees. Due to the intense heat and lack of rain, there is still a high risk of forest fires in some parts of Germany.
How great the danger is was shown at Treuenbrietzen between Potsdam and Lutherstadt Wittenberg. The situation there came to a head on Sunday night. The district administrator of the Potsdam-Mittelmark district had declared the disaster, said a fire department spokesman in Brandenburg/Havel.
The Bundeswehr took part in fighting the forest fire with a transport helicopter and announced on Twitter that they had dropped around 40,000 liters of water. The district had submitted an application for administrative assistance to help with firefighting, the Air Force tweeted. “We continue to fly tonight, then with night vision goggles. Full commitment!“.
In 2018, around 400 hectares of forest were destroyed in a forest fire in Treuenbrietzen. Flames raged in the forest southwest of Berlin for several days. Because of the major fire, more than 500 people had to leave the villages of Frohnsdorf, Klausdorf and Tiefenbrunnen.
But the heat chaos does not threaten everywhere and not all day on Sunday. After a hot start to the day, according to the forecast, more and more clouds are likely to swell from the afternoon, especially over the middle, in the south-west German mountains and in the Alps. Local thunderstorms and severe weather are possible.
The astronomical and also the calendar start of summer is on Tuesday (June 21). Then the sun reaches its northernmost point above the earth and at noon it reaches its highest point of the year. According to the forecast, on this first day of summer there will be cumulus clouds and local showers and thunderstorms, especially in the south and south-west. In the northern half it will probably be 22 to 28 degrees warm, on the coasts it will stay a little cooler. To the south it will probably be hot again with 27 to 33 degrees.
8:51 p.m .: With up to 37.1 degrees, Saturday has been the hottest day of the year so far. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the highest values were measured late Saturday afternoon at the Waghäusel-Kirrlach stations on the Upper Rhine (Baden-Württemberg) and in Bad Kreuznach (Rhineland-Palatinate).
Behind the 37.1 degrees measured there, according to DWD information from Saturday evening, were Möhrendorf-Kleinseebach in the Middle Franconian district of Erlangen-Höchstadt (Bavaria) with 36.8 degrees, followed by Trier-Zewen (Rhineland-Palatinate) with 36.6 degrees and Kahl am Main in the Lower Franconian district of Aschaffenburg on the Bavarian-Hessian border with 36.5 degrees.
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 stations in Duisburg and Tönisvorst (near Krefeld). A temperature record of 42.6 degrees measured in Lingen on the same day was later canceled afterwards. The values from this Saturday are also not record values for June: at the end of June 2019, values of around 39 degrees were measured in several places.
7.46 p.m .: The forest fire in Treuenbriezen in the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark (Brandenburg) is apparently out of control again. As the operations management told the “RBB”, the district of Tiefenbrunnen should be evacuated. The fire rages on around 42 hectares. The disaster alarm was triggered, it is said.
4:27 p.m .: A large forest fire near Frohnsdorf in Brandenburg south of Berlin has been contained for the time being. Open fires can no longer be seen on drone images, the RBB broadcaster quoted information from the fire brigade on Saturday afternoon. In the meantime, around 60 hectares had been on fire between Treuenbrietzen in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district and Jüterborg.
The extinguishing work was made more difficult by the fact that the affected area is partially contaminated with ammunition, so that the emergency services could only move on secured routes. At times, around 400 firefighters from across the region were on site to fight the fire that broke out around noon on Friday. Bundeswehr helicopters were also deployed to provide support.
Firefighting was still going on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters continued to fight embers, as the RBB reported, citing information from the emergency services. There is still heavy smoke development. The cause of the fire in Frohnsdorf was initially unclear. There was already a major fire in the area in 2018.
3:53 p.m .: At 35.6 degrees Celsius, the Thuringian university town of Jena was the hottest place of the day in Germany early on Saturday afternoon. The value was measured at the Jena observatory, as a spokesman for the German Weather Service said on request. This exceeded the previous high for June 18 in Thuringia. It dates from 2002 – at that time 35.0 degrees Celsius were measured. According to the DWD, the highest daytime temperatures are usually only reached in the evening.
According to the DWD, the second warmest place in Germany was Wolfach with 35.5 degrees in the early afternoon, followed by Bad Kreuznach (both Baden-Württemberg) with 35.4 degrees.
3.45 p.m .: Strong solar radiation has probably led to cracks in the masonry of a stairwell in a Düsseldorf apartment building. The house had been temporarily evacuated, the fire brigade reported on Saturday. Residents noticed the cracks and alerted the fire brigade. According to the structural engineer, the cause of the damage was that steel girders in the masonry, which “due to the age of the house were partly exposed”, would have expanded due to the strong solar radiation.
The fire brigade found that glass blocks had burst on the back of the house in the stairwell area. Due to the expansion in the masonry, the three by three meter fields with the glass blocks were pushed apart. Since the basic structure of the walls had proven to be stable according to the test and the apartments were not affected, all residents were able to return. The inner courtyard was initially cordoned off.
3.41 p.m .: The fire brigade extinguished a fire in the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche in Dortmund. The fire brigade explained that the emergency services were initially alerted on Saturday to smoke developing in the tower of an aisle. According to the report, there was a room on the first floor in full fire. The flames had already spread to the roof beams of the hundred-year-old church.
The emergency services quickly managed to extinguish the fire. They were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the organ in the next room. They had to open the roof of the church from the outside in order to discharge smoke gases and get to embers. According to initial findings, the fire broke out in a switch cabinet of the electrical installation. According to the police, the cause of the fire was a technical defect. Nothing was initially known about the amount of property damage.
3.15 p.m .: The German Weather Service (DWD) warns of extreme heat in four districts in the south-west of Baden-Württemberg on Sunday. Affected are accordingly the district of Ortenau, the district of Emmendingen, the district of Breisgrau-Hochschwarzwald and the city of Freiburg as well as the district of Lörrach.
On Saturday, the DWD warns of increased UV intensity in some federal states. The warning is mostly in effect until 4 p.m. Large parts of Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, all of North Rhine-Westphalia and Bremen are affected, as well as isolated districts in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Brandenburg.
11:18 a.m .: The German Weather Service (DWD) again warned of extreme heat for the entire weekend on Saturday. In large parts of the country, but especially on the Upper Rhine and in eastern Saxony, very high temperatures are to be expected, the DWD announced in the morning. UV radiation will also reach high values.
The DWD had already pointed out on Friday that the previous heat record of 38.3 degrees for the second decade of June 2002 could be set or exceeded. In general, with the exception of some coastal regions, daily maximum temperatures above 30 degrees were expected. It is also expected to remain hot for the most part on Sunday
The first heavy thunderstorms were also forecast for Sunday night. It was said that there could be gusts of wind at 95 kilometers per hour locally in northern Germany, as well as hail and heavy rain.
Saturday, June 18, 4 a.m.: The fire brigade continues to fight the fire in a forest near the small town of Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg. According to the whale protection officer Raimund Engel, the work should continue on Saturday. The fire broke out on Friday and had spread to about 60 hectares by evening. The area corresponds to 84 soccer fields.
The spokeswoman for the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark, Andrea Metzler, said late Friday evening that there was no wind and that it was hoped it would stay that way. The fire brigade’s forces received further reinforcements from the police’s water cannons.
The use of the firefighters could be difficult because it is also an area in the suspected explosive ordnance area. In 2018, flames raged in the wooded area in Treuenbrietzen for several days. Around 400 hectares of forest were destroyed.
9:14 p.m .: A forest fire broke out near Frohnsdorf near Treuenbrietzen (Potsdam-Mittelmark) in Brandenburg. The fire had spread to about 60 hectares by the evening, reported the spokeswoman for the district, Andrea Metzler, on Friday evening. According to her, the fire brigade, police, army and technical relief organization (THW) were on site. A total of 380 forces are deployed. A massive cloud of smoke can be seen as far south as Brandenburg, said forest fire protection officer Raimund Engel.
The civil protection asked the population in the area around Treuenbrietzen, Linthe and Niemegk to keep windows and doors closed. The district spokeswoman said the situation was dynamic. “The wind is changing, it’s very dry again,” said Metzler. So far, however, no towns are in danger, she emphasized.
The use of the firefighters could be difficult because it is also an area in the suspected explosive ordnance area, explained the forest fire protection officer. Areas are affected where there was already a fire in 2018. “There have already been detonations,” reported Engel. Therefore, the extinguishing work could only be done from the edge.
Engel assumes that the work will continue on Saturday. “One can only hope that the wind will calm down a bit,” he said. According to district spokeswoman Metzler, water cannons were requested and approved. The federal highway 102 was blocked because of the operation. Efforts should be made to contain the fire. An area of 143 hectares would be available for this, according to the spokeswoman.
You can find more information about the weather on the following pages.