The weather service records the warmest spring since records began

Spring in Germany this year was warmer than ever, and very humid too. The German Meteorological Service reports this and says: Climate change cannot be ignored.

This year's spring was the warmest in Germany since measurements began in 1881. As reported by the German Meteorological Service (DWD), the average temperature during the three spring months of March, April and May was 10.8 degrees Celsius, an all-time high. . It was 3.1 degrees higher than the average value for the international reference period from 1961 to 1990. Compared to the current, warmer comparison period from 1991 to 2020, the deviation was 1.9 degrees.

Obviously, March and April are very mild

March 2024 was already 4 degrees milder at 7.5 degrees – thus matching a typical April. April was also noticeably very mild, and on the 6th the Upper Rhine set Germany's previous annual record: the town of Ulsbach in Baden-Württemberg recorded 30.1 degrees. This was followed by a cold setback: on April 23, this spring's minimum was measured at minus 8.8 degrees in Deutschneudorf Broderwiese, Saxony.

“Climate change cannot be ignored,” DWD spokesman Uwe Kirche said. “After the warmest February and March of the year, we are now seeing an average spring temperature in Germany that has never been higher since measurements began.”

Heavy rain in parts of Germany

In addition to the record temperatures, there has been heavy rain in the area, DWD said in its spring report. This was especially the case in May after severe thunderstorms. Heavy and persistent rains led to dramatic flooding in the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. In contrast, the weather remained relatively dry in parts of eastern Germany.

In spring 2024, the Germany-wide average is likely to fall by about 235 liters per square meter. In the reference period from 1961 to 1990, it reached 186 liters per square meter, and in the period from 1991 to 2020, it reached 171 liters per square meter. The highest amounts were in the southwest: in the Black Forest, rain fell at a rate of more than 700 liters per square meter in some places. In the last third of May, heavy rains fell with floods in many areas of Germany. It remained relatively dry in Lusatia.

Most of the sun is in the northeast

With 485 hours of sunshine, the duration in spring exceeded the average of 467 hours in the period from 1961 to 1990. However, compared to the period from 1991 to 2020 with an average of 522 hours, there was a slight negative deviation. In the northeast, the sun shines longer, locally for more than 600 hours, while in the western low mountain ranges it was less than 400 hours in some areas.