Germany to test crisis response to drought and 45-degree heatwave in LÜKEX 26 drill

What the exercise covers

The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) will run the LÜKEX 26 exercise from Wednesday, 4 November to Friday, 6 November 2026. Its scenario is fictional but, according to the BBK, rests on the office's own drought risk analysis, and it imagines five drought years followed by a heatwave of up to 45 degrees. The German Weather Service (DWD) and the Federal Institute of Hydrology also helped shape the scenario, which the BBK says was deliberately sharpened. Participants will not deploy crews on the ground. Instead, they will make strategic decisions in conference rooms and at computers about which measures protect the population. Staff groups must work out what to do when water runs short or who warns whom when forest fires spread, and crisis communication is a central element.

Who takes part

About 180 authorities, institutions and companies are taking part, including ten federal states, nearly 20 federal authorities and operators of critical infrastructure. The states are Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, and together they field more than 60 ministries at state level. The BBK calls it the largest national simulation so far in which federal and state governments test strategic crisis management together. Preparation began in November 2024. Hesse's interior minister, Roman Poseck (CDU), framed the drill in terms of preparedness.

“Crises do not announce themselves. That is why we must be prepared before they occur.”

Hamburg and Hesse in practice

In Hamburg about 200 participants from authorities and aid organisations will work through the scenario over three days. NDR describes the situation the city would face: low water hampering port traffic, broken supply chains, shortages of food and drinking water, clinics overwhelmed by heat casualties and forest fires. The exercise takes place in a situation room, so residents are unlikely to notice much. In Hesse, Poseck said that prolonged drought combined with extreme heat affects everything from health and transport to water supply, and he stressed that ministries, authorities, critical infrastructure operators, aid organisations and the federal government must cooperate closely. The Hesse interior ministry counts nearly 100 organisations actively exercising, with almost 80 more involved in a supporting role.

Why the scenario feels close to home

The scenario may look out of season for November, but the reporting ties it to last summer. Health officials found that older and chronically ill people were hit hard by the summer's heat, some fatally. According to the Umweltportal NRW, about 7.5 million people are affected by heat stress in hot summers, mainly because of densely built cities and sealed surfaces, and the number of days above 30 degrees has risen markedly in the state. NDR cites estimates by British scientists that last summer's heat cost about 50,000 lives in Europe, and reports that shipping on the Rhine was hindered for weeks.

Past drills and what follows

LÜKEX has been coordinated by the BBK for more than 20 years, starting in 2004 with a scenario about a large-scale power outage. Earlier drills tested a gas shortage in 2018 and the response to a mysterious illness wave in 2013.

The BBK says the drill should help develop crisis response mechanisms and improve preparedness for other types of damage situations. The agency plans for 2027 to bring civil defence into focus.