Germany breaks heat record for second day with 41.5°C, triggering transport chaos and evacuations

Temperature record falls again

On Saturday afternoon the German Weather Service (DWD) registered 41.5°C at the Drewitz station in Saxony-Anhalt, beating the 41.3°C set in Saarbrücken only 24 hours earlier. The same station had already recorded 41.4°C in the Burbach district of Saarbrücken, while Andernach in Rhineland-Palatinate and Genthin in Saxony-Anhalt both reached 41.1°C. Preliminary data from the DWD shows more than a dozen stations across the country surpassing the 40°C mark, with Berlin-Tempelhof hitting 39.2°C, a new local record, and Potsdam reporting 39.9°C.

The heatwave is going to peak at the weekend, well over 40 degrees in some parts of Germany.

Transport disrupted by extreme heat

Deutsche Bahn advised against all non-essential travel on Saturday and Sunday, warning that signals, tracks and overhead wires were under exceptional strain. Regional operator National Express suspended its five RRX lines in North Rhine-Westphalia for six hours to avoid unplanned stoppages on open track. Metronom likewise urged passengers not to begin journeys, after air-conditioning systems reached their technical limits and several heat-related infrastructure faults disrupted services. Near Stuttgart main station a embankment fire stopped S-Bahn and long-distance trains for several hours. Highways across multiple Länder were closed or subject to speed restrictions after concrete surfaces buckled in the heat, according to the ADAC.

Health and safety incidents

In Dormagen firefighters evacuated a retirement home, taking 16 residents to hospital and relocating 30 others to another facility. One resident died overnight; an autopsy will determine whether heat was the cause. In Krefeld five seniors collapsed in another care home and dozens were moved to cooler rooms. The Berlin fire brigade reported more than 300 extra call-outs on Friday, mainly for heat-related collapses and cardiac arrests, and one man drowned in a Charlottenburg pond. A seven-year-old boy in Neuss suffered facial burns when hot water sprayed from a garden hose that had been lying in the sun. Berlin police deployed two water cannons to spray cooling mist at the Brandenburg Gate and other public squares.

A short-lived peak

The heatwave, driven by an Omega blocking pattern that has baked Western Europe for days, is forecast to shift eastwards and push temperatures toward 40°C in Poland as well. On Sunday the DWD expects the focus of the heat to move further east, but heavy thunderstorms with a risk of tornadoes, hurricane-force gusts and hail are forecast for large parts of Germany overnight.

Tomorrow there can be tornadoes, hurricane gusts and hail.

Forecasters say the heatwave should break by Monday or Tuesday, but not before Saturday's records are tested again on Sunday.