Heatwave brings 40.2°C record to Lower Saxony, killing two and disrupting travel

Record temperatures

Lüchow in the Wendland region hit 40.2°C on Saturday, surpassing the previous state record of 40°C set in Barsinghausen on 20 July 2022, according to provisional DWD data. Bremen recorded 37.3°C, its hottest June day ever. The heatwave peaked on Saturday, with Sunday still bringing 30 to 37°C in the southeast before a sharp cooldown to 23–28°C on Monday.

Drownings at lakes

Two people died while seeking relief from the heat. On Friday evening, an 8-year-old boy drowned in a bathing lake in Isernhagen near Hannover. A two-hour search involving 60 emergency personnel, a police helicopter, and a sonar boat ended when divers recovered his body. On Saturday, a 22-year-old non-swimmer drowned in Bremen's Sodenmattsee. His friends attempted a rescue but were themselves pulled to safety by two other bathers; resuscitation efforts by fire service divers were unsuccessful.

Thunderstorms and lightning damage

Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, severe thunderstorms swept across northwestern Lower Saxony and Bremen. In Südbrookmerland (Aurich district), a lightning strike set a barn ablaze. In Ihlow, a man touching conductive material was struck by lightning, lost consciousness for about a minute, and was hospitalized. In Aurich's Middels district, lightning ignited the roof of a house, causing damage of approximately 100,000 euros; the resident escaped unharmed. Fire brigades in Emden and Leer cleared trees from roads, and Winsen an der Luhe reported flooded cellars and streets already on Saturday afternoon.

Infrastructure impacts

The extreme heat damaged roads and rail infrastructure. On the A7 south of Hamburg, a 2.5-kilometer stretch of the northbound main lane near the Hamburg-Marmstorf junction was closed due to heat-damaged pavement, with the closure expected to last until Monday afternoon. Between Bad Fallingbostel and Dorfmark on the A7, concrete slabs expanded and burst, damaging two cars and forcing a lane closure. Near Nienburg, bitumen bleedings made road surfaces slippery. Rail operator Metronom warned that heat-related faults and air conditioning failures could halt service and advised passengers to avoid travel. Deutsche Bahn also urged against non-essential journeys on regional and long-distance trains for the weekend.