Germany's heatwave intensifies as storms injure nine, flood towns and disrupt festivals
A blistering heatwave with temperatures reaching 38.5°C has sparked severe thunderstorms across Germany, injuring nine at a sports festival, flooding towns, and forcing event organizers and festival managers to adapt.
Heatwave grips Germany
Much of Germany remained under a punishing heat dome on Saturday, with the German Weather Service (DWD) warning of "strong to extreme" thermal stress. The preliminary peak was 38.5°C on Friday in Kitzingen, Bavaria, followed closely by Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate at 38.0°C.
The DWD forecast 30 to 38°C for Saturday and 30 to 39°C for Sunday, the summer solstice. No all-time records have fallen yet; the national high of 41.2°C dates to 25 July 2019 and the June record of 39.6°C was set the same year.Even higher values are possible.
- 38.5°C recorded in Kitzingen; evening thunderstorms strike the southwest, lightning injures nine in Rastatt, Southside Festival interrupted.
- Flash flooding in Rhein-Lahn district triggers a brief extreme-flood warning; water levels recede overnight.
- Saturday: 30–38°C, festival evacuation in Schleswig-Holstein, public viewing for Germany vs. Ivory Coast at risk from late western storms.
- Summer solstice: temperatures forecast up to 39°C; remaining storms weaken as they move east.
Thunderstorms cause casualties and flooding
Late Friday, vigorous thunderstorms swept across the southwest. In Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, lightning struck a tent encampment at a handball festival, injuring nine people, including a 13-year-old child; six were hospitalised. None are in life-threatening condition. In the Rhein-Lahn district of Rhineland-Palatinate, torrential rain sent several rivers over their banks. A district spokesperson described a flood that statistically occurs only every 50 years. The federal civil protection agency briefly issued an extreme-flood warning, though water levels subsided overnight. Fire brigades were called out dozens of times in both states, but no major structural damage was reported. Thunderstorms also hit parts of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Festivals and public events disrupted
The Southside music festival near Konstanz, with 60,000 expected visitors, was temporarily suspended due to the severe weather. In Schleswig-Holstein, a festival site was evacuated; 13 people suffered minor injuries. Its sister event, the Hurricane Festival, experienced a thunderstorm without incident. Public viewing for the Germany vs. Ivory Coast World Cup match on Saturday evening is expected to proceed largely unimpeded, though forecasters caution that storms may approach from the west later in the evening.
Adapting to extreme conditions
In Frankfurt, Helene Fischer's concert on 20 June saw adjusted rules because of the heat: doors were pushed to 5:30 p.m., the stadium roof remained closed for shade, free water tetrapaks were distributed, and small non-metallic fans were allowed.
- Saarland
- 44 days
- Rhineland-Palatinate
- 38 days
- Baden-Württemberg
- 29 days
- Hesse
- 26 days
- Germany average
- 19 days
