weather
Thunderstorm days are coming to an end – the consequences are usually mild
Clouds are moving over the foothills of the Black Forest, with the Rhine plain in the background. photo
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
It has been a long time since there was so much rain in many places. Over the weekend there was heavy downpour in some regions – some villages and roads were flooded with mud pouring from fields.
Heavy showers with thunderstorms have raged in many places in Germany since Friday: cellars were full, lightning struck, cars began to slide on wet roads. According to the forecast by the German Weather Service (DWD), Sunday can also bring lightning, thunder and lots of rain, especially in the south and east of the country.
According to the DWD forecast, the weather should be calmer again at the start of the week. On Monday it will be cloudy to heavily overcast in the northern half with maximum values of 19 to 23 degrees, in the southern half sunny and mostly dry with maximum values between 24 and 29 degrees.
On Friday and Saturday, the fire brigade and police had to deal with a number of weather-related operations. Cellars often had to be pumped out, and storm damage such as broken branches was less common. In Gersdorf, Saxony, a mudslide devastated an outdoor pool. Gardens and streets were also washed over on Saturday night by the mud that was swept from surrounding fields. In the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia, the village of Jützenbach was hit by a reddish mudslide. Here, too, earth had been washed onto the road from an adjacent field.
In Berlin, the state of emergency weather was declared for about three hours on Friday evening in order to be able to mobilize sufficient forces in an emergency. The punk band Die Ärzte and rapper Marteria canceled concerts planned for the evening, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender ended the citizen festival for volunteers early.