The sun is about to put its hat on for what will likely be the last time in summer 2023. This weekend will see highs of 32 degrees and warm weather across Germany.
In what will likely be the final flash of summer sunshine for 2023, Germany is set to see temperatures of between 26 and 32 degrees towards the end of the week.
Temperatures will pick up in the afternoon on Thursday, September 8. According to the German Weather Service (DWD) the lowest temperature - still a high of 23 degrees - is expected in Brocken, at the peak of the Harz Mountains in Saxony Anhalt. At the other end of the scale, 31 degrees has been forecast for Frankfurt and Cologne on Thursday afternoon.
Temperatures will continue to rise into Friday and will stay consistent through to Saturday. Throughout the weekend, highs of 29 degrees are expected in northern Germany, 32 degrees in central Germany and 30 degrees in the south.
With summer 2023 drawing to a close, weather services are beginning to summarise what the season can tell us about the development of the climate crisis in Germany. Speaking to Clean Energy Wire, a publication from Berlin covering Germany’s transition to green energy, the DWD explained that 2023 marks the 27th consecutive year that “summers in Germany have been measured as too warm."
In recent years, heat days or Hitzetage - days where the temperature reaches 30 degrees Celsius or above - have occurred earlier in the summer and more regularly across Germany and Europe. Once temperatures reach 30 degrees Celsius or above, certain groups such as older people or those who are pregnant become more vulnerable. According to ZDF, as of August 21, 2023, Germany had seen 24 Hitzetage throughout this summer. During the decades from the 1970s to 1990s, the average number of Hitzetage expected per summer in Germany was fewer than 10.
“Once again, we can experience climate change live,” DWD spokesperson Uwe Kirsche told Clean Energy Wire. During summer 2023, the average temperature was 18,6 degrees Celsius, 2,3 degrees over the international reference period 1961 to 1990.
Responding to the figures from the DWD, hydrologist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Fred Hatterman said that the DWD report “underline[d] that we are in the midst of climate change."
According to the German Farmers’ Association (DBV), the lack of rain during German summers of recent years is likely to lead to below-average grain crop harvest but will benefit certain autumn crops.
Calculations from the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service have revealed that 2023 currently has an 85 percent chance of being the hottest year ever recorded on Earth.
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