Record 36.2°C heat and violent storms disrupt Germany: motorways buckle, Cottbus festival paused, and 58 fire callouts in Brandenburg
Record heat and severe thunderstorms struck Germany on Saturday, damaging motorways, flooding streets, and forcing interruption of Cottbus's city festival. The DWD warns of worsening conditions on Sunday.
Record-breaking heat
Germany sweated through its hottest day of the year on Friday. Cottbus in Brandenburg recorded 36.2°C, followed by Baruth (Mark) at 35.7°C, while Potsdam and Berlin-Tempelhof both reached 35.3°C. The DWD issued extreme heat warnings for parts of Brandenburg.
- Cottbus
- 36.2 °C
- Baruth (Mark)
- 35.7 °C
- Potsdam
- 35.3 °C
- Berlin-Tempelhof
- 35.3 °C
As Saturday began, the heat persisted, with the Lausitz region expected to again touch 35°C. DWD meteorologist Florian Engelmann warned that locally intense thunderstorms would develop in the afternoon and evening, particularly along the Oder and Neiße rivers, bringing gale-force gusts, hail, and torrential rain within short bursts.
But after 20 to 30 minutes the whole thing is over.
Thunderstorms hit Brandenburg
On Saturday afternoon, severe thunderstorms swept across southern and eastern Brandenburg. The regional control centre Lausitz reported 58 fire service callouts in the districts of Dahme-Spreewald, Oberspreewald-Lausitz, Elbe-Elster, Spree-Neiße, and the city of Cottbus. Lightning strikes likely caused a barn fire in Großkrausnick and a grain field fire in Calau. No injuries were reported. Streets flooded and trees toppled, while heavy rainfall overwhelmed underpasses and event spaces.
Cottbus city festival halted
The storms struck Cottbus directly, forcing a suspension of the city's largest folk festival. A city spokesman confirmed that electricity and stage equipment had to be checked before performances could resume. Six stages were affected to varying degrees; those on grass absorbed so much water that draining proved difficult. The pause was expected to last until around 17:00.
Infrastructure meltdown
Extreme heat also wreaked havoc on transport networks. On Friday evening, the server supplying real-time data for Cologne's public transport operator KVB failed, blanking departure displays, the KVB app, and the website. On Saturday, heat-damaged road surfaces on the A1 motorway between Bargteheide and Bad Oldesloe in Schleswig-Holstein and on the A13 from Dresden toward Schönefelder Kreuz in southern Berlin caused long traffic jams.
It will get a notch more dangerous.
Outlook: Sunday brings heightened threat
The DWD warned that conditions will worsen on Sunday, the calendar start of summer. Severe thunderstorms are forecast to hit North Rhine-Westphalia, especially the Ruhr area, in the morning, before shifting to central Germany and later the southeastern states. In Brandenburg's southeast half, gale-force gusts may reach 100 km/h. The DWD cautioned that heavier rain and stronger winds than Saturday’s storms could overwhelm drainage systems again.
- Hottest day of the year: Cottbus 36.2°C, Berlin-Tempelhof 35.3°C. Neuruppin streets flood, trees topple, power fails. Cologne KVB display server outage due to heat.
- A1 motorway damaged near Bargteheide; A13 damaged south of Berlin. Severe storms hit Brandenburg: 58 fire callouts, barn and field fires, Cottbus city festival paused.
- DWD predicts severe thunderstorms across NRW then central and southeastern Germany; gale gusts up to 100 km/h.
