After the violent storms in southern Germany and Austria, the long-awaited relaxation of the weather is finally becoming apparent.
- After the violent storms on Friday, a weather expert announces a first relaxation for Germany.
- As a result of the heavy rain showers, rail traffic was disrupted in several parts of Germany.
- Heavy rain and storms caused flooding and flooded basements in numerous regions in Germany and Europe.
Update from August 20, 10:30 p.m.: After a signal box failed at the main station in Dortmund due to the storm in Germany and the entire station was closed, it was able to be reopened on Saturday evening around 10 p.m. “The Dortmund Hbf signal box has been repaired. Long-distance trains are returning to Dortmund Hbf,” said Deutsche Bahn on Twitter. The train station had been closed from Friday to Saturday night due to the failure.
Weather in Germany: Heavy rain paralyzes Dortmund Central Station
Update from August 20, 4:25 p.m .: After the heavy rains in Germany, there were obstacles to rail traffic in various places, including Bavaria and parts of Baden-Württemberg. Dortmund was particularly affected on Saturday, where the main train station was closed on Saturday night. As Deutsche Bahn announced on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, it will remain closed into the evening.
Long-distance traffic was also significantly disrupted due to the station closure. Trains were diverted and delayed. Because of the rain, a signal box had failed there. In Bavaria, there were disabilities after heavy rainfall in both rail and road traffic. The railway line between Lindau and Bregenz was temporarily interrupted.
Weather in Germany: Storms cause more water in rivers and streams
Meanwhile, the Bavarian flood news service reported higher water levels on Saturday, especially in the areas of the southern tributaries of the Danube, the Lake Constance tributaries and the Inn area. However, the rain masses “only occasionally led to overflows”. This is due to the fact that many rivers and streams have had low water levels in recent months due to the severe drought.
The original report from August 20, 12:56 p.m .: After severe storms – an expert announces the first relaxation
Munich – Heavy rainfall and storms caused flooding and flooded basements in numerous regions in Germany and Europe. In Austria, the storm claimed five lives, and a total of twelve people died across Europe. The weather calms down at the beginning of the new week, but showers and thunderstorms are to be expected again on Sunday.
Weather in Germany: After severe storms – experts announce the first relaxation
On Saturday there were individual warnings for regions in Bavaria, on Sunday there should be individual showers again in the south-east and north-west. In the north-west, short thunderstorms cannot be ruled out in the afternoon, the German weather service (DWD) in Offenbach said on Saturday. Otherwise it mostly stays dry and the temperatures rise to 23 to 29 degrees.
At the start of the week on Monday, it could still rain occasionally in Lower Bavaria and Upper Lusatia. Otherwise it will remain partly cloudy, partly friendly for longer. In the south-east it will be around 23 degrees, otherwise the temperatures could climb to 26 to 30 degrees. According to the meteorologists, changing to heavy clouds will spread from the west to the middle on Tuesday and there will be some rain. Otherwise it will remain clear to cloudy and the temperatures will rise to 26 to 30 degrees.
Weather in Germany – rainfall in the south can be compared to the flood catastrophe in 2021
With the heavy rainfall, especially in the south, the region from Swabia to Lake Constance, the Allgäu and parts of Upper Bavaria were particularly affected on Friday. In some cases, more than 100 liters per square meter fell, in some places the usual monthly total. The weather conditions were quite similar to the situation that led to the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley in July 2021. Such a situation is a big challenge for the meteorologists, because the weather models have great difficulty with accurate forecasts. In this case, however, the effects remained minor, since the large rainfall deficit of the past few months meant that rivers and streams were mostly low and the soil was able to absorb a lot of water.
Italy also had to contend with severe storms. A video shows a Ferris wheel struggling under the force of the storm.
