The German Meteorological Service (DWD) has presented a summary of this year's winter, which was marked by extreme regional differences. While Berlin and Brandenburg experienced the snowiest season in 14 years, the southern and eastern states are grappling with a precipitation deficit and exceptional sunshine. Nationwide, the season turned out to be warmer and drier than the long-term average, with a rapid transition to spring-like weather at the end of February.
Snow Records in the North
Berlin and Hamburg recorded the snowiest winter in many years, which surprised municipal services, with local indicators in the capital approaching records from 2012.
Drought Problem in the East
Saxony and Thuringia ended the season with a precipitation deficit and exceptional sunshine, threatening agricultural drought.
Spring-like End of February
At the end of the month, temperatures rose sharply, forcing ski resorts in central Germany to close their slopes.
This year's winter season in Germany will be recorded in meteorological chronicles as a time of deep weather contrasts. According to official data from the German Meteorological Service (DWD), the country's weather landscape was divided into a snowy north and a dry, sunny east and south. Berlin and Brandenburg recorded the most intense snowfall since 2012, and locally even in 14 years, which is a clear exception to the trend of increasingly milder winters. A similar phenomenon was observed in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where winter was the snowiest since 2010. Nevertheless, statistics for all of Germany indicate that the season was warmer, drier, and sunnier compared to the historical average, confirming ongoing climate change. Since the beginning of systematic meteorological measurements in the 19th century, winters in Central Europe have become shorter, and the number of days with snow cover in lowlands has drastically decreased in favor of rainfall.The hydrological situation in many regions is causing concern among experts. In Saxony, Thuringia, and Rhineland-Palatinate, excessively low sums of precipitation were recorded, which, combined with a high number of sunshine hours, has deepened the phenomenon of drought ahead of the start of the growing season. Saarland, on the other hand, became a regional oddity, recording record rainfall with an almost complete lack of sunshine. Although Brandenburg was classified as the statistically coldest state, the overall temperature trend across the country favored the rapid arrival of spring. Ski resorts in Hesse are officially ending their season, and skiers are enjoying the last patches of snow on the slopes before the forecasted warming. The last days of February brought a sudden change in weather, which finally displaced the cold air masses from over German territory. Meteorologists emphasize that although localized winter attacks in the north were spectacular and led to transport paralysis, they were unable to reverse the nationwide trend towards milder seasons. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland, the end of February already resembles full spring, with temperatures significantly exceeding the norms for this time of year. Experts from the DWD summarize that this year's winter was a dynamic combination of rare precipitation anomalies with progressive warming, creating unpredictable conditions for agriculture and water management in the coming months.