The storm in Germany claimed three lives. The situation remains very critical. After “Ylenia” the next hurricane low is approaching. This could get even worse.
- After “Ylenia” comes “Zeynep”: The weather continues to be stormy (update from February 18, 7:20 a.m.) .
- At least two people were seriously injured in the storm (update from February 17, 3:46 p.m.) .
- This news ticker on the weather* in Germany is updated regularly.
Update from February 18, 9:44 a.m .: What will happen in the next few hours? According to the current model forecasts, hurricane low “Zeynep” outshines quite a few things in terms of weather. Alert level purple, the German Weather Service (DWD) has issued along the North Sea coast. The DWD weather experts fear that the East Frisian coast could be hit particularly hard.
When will the storm “Zeynep” – known internationally as “Eunice” – hit Germany?
“First, the cold front from hurricane Zeynep quickly crosses us from north-west to south-east. There are already heavy gusts of wind, isolated hurricane-force gusts of around 110 km/h possible. The passage of the cold front will be short and sometimes violent!” tweeted the German Weather Service (DWD). After the passage of the cold front, the hurricane “Zeynep” increases in strength, especially in the northern parts of the country.
- The DWD announced in its current situation report that the first gusts of wind will start in the west and north-west of Germany on Friday afternoon.
- Storm gusts in the rest of Germany on Friday evening and on Saturday night.
- Friday night: Hurricane gusts of more than 140 km/h (EXTREME WEATHER) on the North Sea and in some higher areas on Saturday night.
When will the hurricane “Zeynep” hit? Meteorologists from the weather portal wetter.de formulate something more specific.
| 4:45 p.m | from the Eifel to the North Sea, first storm to heavy gusts of wind possible. eastern East Frisian Islands hurricane-like to hurricane gusts possible. |
|---|---|
| 6:45 p.m | from the Ruhr area to Hamburg possibly hurricane-like gusts, North Sea coast hurricane-like to hurricane-like gusts. North Sea coast hurricane-like to hurricane gusts |
| 12:00 a.m | North Sea environment hurricane gusts, islands, chunks up to 160 km/h, also Baltic Sea with hurricane to hurricane gusts |
| 6:00 a.m | Focus roughly from Hamburg to northern Brandenburg with hurricane-like to hurricane gusts, Baltic Sea hurricane gusts |
Hurricane Zeynep gives cause for concern: Expert with urgent warning – “Stay in the house”
Update from February 18, 8.30 a.m .: The qualified meteorologist Dominik Jung urgently warns of the consequences that hurricane low “Zeynep” could have for Germany. In Great Britain, “Zeynep” is already regarded as one of the most violent storms in recent decades. While the hurricane gusts and storm surge warnings are mainly concentrated in northern Germany, the foothills of the storm should not be underestimated in the south either. Since the previous storm “Ylenia” had already caused the first devastation there and, for example, trees that had already been damaged by “Zeynep” could now be completely uprooted.
Jung suspects that rail traffic to northern Germany will have to be interrupted on Friday. “Anything else would be unreasonable. People should call it a day and go home early. At night there is a mortal danger, especially between the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts and everything in between,” says Jung. If possible, people should stay at home, secure everything and, above all, stay away from the coasts.
Incidentally, the storm also brought very spring-like temperatures to Germany. Up to 18 degrees can be reached on Friday on the Upper Rhine and even up to 12 degrees on Friday in the Alps.
Weather in Germany: hurricane low “Zeynep” is coming up
Update from February 18, 7:20 a.m .: The hurricane “Ylenia” has only just swept across Germany, and hurricane “Zeynep” is already waiting to be used. As early as Friday afternoon, the wind in the northwest should increase again significantly. The peak is reached in the evening and in the first half of the night on Saturday, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).
Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of more than 120 kilometers per hour are expected, especially on the East Frisian Islands and other exposed locations. But the weather service is also expecting hurricane-force gusts and gusts of magnitude 11 and 12 for inland areas. With the fear of the wind comes the fear of possible flooding, especially on the islands. The flood gates on Wangerooge should be closed to prevent a catastrophe.
Hurricane gusts expected in Germany: warning level purple applies in these districts
In some counties on the North Sea coast, the German Weather Service (DWD) has now issued the highest warning level (purple). Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of up to 140 km/h are warned.
- Lower Saxony
District of Aurich – inland
District of Aurich – coast
city of Emden
Wittmund district – inland
Wittmund district – coast
Circle Empty
Friesland district – inland
Circle Friesland coast
Wesermarsch district – inland
Wesermarsch district – coast
District of Cuxhaven – inland
District of Cuxhaven – coast
district of Stade
City of Bremerhaven - Schleswig Holstein
District of Dithmarschen – inland
Dithmarschen district – coast
North Friesland district – inland
North Friesland district – coast
District of Schleswig-Flensburg – inland - Saxony-Anhalt
District Harz – Bergland
However, the storm warning is still valid in a milder form in most parts of northern and many parts of eastern and western Germany. The red alert warnings apply from around 4 p.m. today in western and central Germany and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the east.

Update from February 17, 8:35 p.m .: The death toll from hurricane low “Ylenia” has risen to three. A driver died in the district of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony. According to the police, the trailer of a truck got into the oncoming lane due to the storm and crashed into the man’s car. His passenger suffered serious injuries from the impact. Icker Landstraße 40 in Belm was completely closed due to rescue and recovery work.
Tree crashes into car that rolls over – driver dies in Saxony-Anhalt
Update from February 17, 7:25 p.m .: Another person died in Saxony-Anhalt due to storm “Ylenia”. A 55-year-old died on a country road in the southern Harz Mountains. According to the police, a tree fell on the man’s car due to the strong wind. The moving car then overturned. This brings the death toll to two.
“It will be brutal”: Meteorologist warns of a new hurricane
Update from February 17, 7:05 p.m .: Storm “Ylenia” is moving, the next hurricane is in the starting blocks. On Friday, low “Zeynep” moves across England to the North Sea. And according to experts from wetter.net , this storm is even more violent. “Ylenia” “was just a prelude,” said meteorologist Dominik Jung. According to British weather models, hurricane “Zeynep” could cause gusts with wind speeds of up to 180 km/h, reports wa.de. “It’s going to be brutal,” says Jung. The west will be less affected, but wind speeds of up to 110 km/h should also be expected in NRW.
Storm “Ylenia”: Rail traffic affected until Saturday
Update from February 17, 4:52 p.m .: Because of the storm, the failures in long-distance traffic by Deutsche Bahn in northern Germany lasted significantly longer than initially announced. Train traffic is expected to be “affected nationwide” by Saturday, Deutsche Bahn wrote on Twitter on Thursday. It is currently not possible to say with certainty which long-distance routes will continue to be canceled on Friday and Saturday.
Hurricane weather in Germany: Two seriously injured
Update from February 17, 3:46 p.m .: In addition to a dead person (see initial report) , there were also serious injuries due to the storm: A 16-year-old scooter driver in Krempe (Schleswig-Holstein) was hit by a gust on a bridge, according to the police. He hit the railing violently. In Germering (Bavaria), a 52-year-old was hit by a falling tree*.
According to AFP, the helpers report nationwide fallen trees, damaged house roofs and obstacles blown around. In many cases, cars also drove into fallen trees, a few trees fell on residential buildings or empty trucks came off the road due to gusts of wind.
The authorities in many federal states had already reacted before the arrival of the hurricane. The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia ordered a state-wide school cancellation for this Thursday.
Germany weather: “Ylenia” is followed by hurricane low “Zeynep”
Update from February 17, 2:54 p.m .: Meteorologists warn after “Ylenia”, which has already claimed a fatality in Germany* (see first report ) before the next hurricane. The DWD expects that “Zeynep” could cause “extreme hurricane gusts of over 140 kilometers per hour” from the East Frisian coast to the Elbe as early as Friday afternoon (February 18).
The meteorologist Andreas Machalica from wetter.com also warns in a broadcast. According to current model calculations, “Zeynep” will be strongest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. “Zeynep” will therefore be an even stronger storm. On the night of Saturday (February 19), the storm then reached the entire north of the country.
Wind gusts of more than 120 kilometers per hour are to be expected on the coast. Even after the storm has lifted on Saturday morning, it will probably remain very windy to stormy. “So that means we’re dealing with a highly dangerous situation again at the weekend,” writes Machalica.
First storm death in Germany: 37-year-old man is killed in a car by a tree
First report: Bad Bevensen – A 37-year-old man fell victim to the hurricane “Ylenia” in his car. He was on Thursday morning around 9 a.m. on the L252 between Bad Bevensen and Seedorf in the Uelzen district when a tree fell on his car and killed him. As a spokesman for the fire brigade confirmed, the driver died immediately. The country road was closed for the duration of the rescue work.
Weather in Germany – severe storm conditions threaten until Saturday
The hurricane “Ylenia” subsides on Thursday afternoon. “The first peak has been passed, but more will follow both today and tomorrow,” announced the German Weather Service (DWD) on Thursday morning. The dangerous weather situation in Germany will last until the evening in some regions.
The DWD warns that stormy gusts and gusts of wind are still to be expected in many places. In the north and east with heavy gusts of wind, in parts of Brandenburg there can be hurricane-like gusts. On the Brocken and in the Fichtelgebirge, individual gusts with wind speeds of over 140 km/h are possible.
Hurricane low “Zeynep” approaching – DWD expects “extreme hurricane gusts” on Friday
After a short break in the storm on Friday night, another storm is emerging. Hurricane Zeynep is approaching. Especially the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts and Schleswig-Holstein get very strong winds.
“We warn of extreme hurricane gusts of up to 135 kilometers per hour on the North Sea coast,” said Franka Nawrath, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD) of the dpa news agency. Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of up to 135 km/h are therefore also expected on the Baltic Sea coast on Friday evening. In the other regions of the north, hurricane-like gusts or hurricane gusts can be expected.
| Beaufort scale/ degrees * | designation | Wind speed kilometers per hour (km/h) | Examples of inland wind effects |
|---|---|---|---|
| force 7 | stiff wind | 50 to 61 km/h | noticeable inhibitions when walking against the wind, entire trees move |
| force 8 | stormy wind | 62 to 74 km/h | Branches break from trees, making it difficult to walk outdoors |
| force 9 | storm | 75 to 88 km/h | Branches break from trees, minor damage to houses (roof tiles or smoke hoods lifted off) |
| force 10 | heavy storm | 89 to 102 km/h | Wind breaks trees, major damage to houses |
| force 11 | gale force storm | 103 to 117 km/h | Wind uproots trees, spreads storm damage |
| force 12 | hurricane | from 118 km/h | severe devastation |
* Quelle: DWD Beaufort-Skala
Weather in Germany: red alert! Hurricane alert in the north
The force with which the hurricane will hit the north is still not 100 percent predictable. The signals for extreme hurricane gusts are there. The DWD receives new model data every six hours. Calculations would have calculated the core of the hurricane low in different places.
“As things stand at present, the low is moving from the North Sea via Denmark to southern Sweden. And then we are on the southern flank of the low in the strongest wind field,” Nawrath continues. “This is the north of Germany.” (ml/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
Picture gallery: © Bodo Schackow / dpa / Screenshot DWD





