Germany hits 40.5°C in July heatwave peak, three states set monthly records before storms sweep in

Peak heat and new July records

Thursday brought the climax of another German heatwave, with the 40°C threshold crossed at multiple stations. The German Weather Service (DWD) reported a provisional high of 40.5°C at Bernburg an der Saale in Saxony-Anhalt. Kitzingen in Bavaria reached 40.4°C, Ohlsbach in Baden-Württemberg hit 40.2°C, Frankfurt am Main and Bad Nauheim in Hesse both recorded 40.1°C, and Rheinfelden in Baden-Württemberg reached 40.0°C.

Three federal states set new July temperature records: Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The DWD stressed that these figures are provisional and still subject to verification. Germany's all-time record of 41.8°C, set at Möckern-Drewitz in Saxony-Anhalt during the late-June heatwave, remained untouched.

Storms follow the heat

As the heat broke, severe thunderstorms, torrential rain and strong gusts swept across many regions, bringing a sharp temperature drop. In North Rhine-Westphalia, two young men aged 18 and 19 were injured by a falling branch at the Möhnesee reservoir in the Sauerland. Police said the teenagers were part of a group walking in a wooded area near the lake and were taken to hospital. The Libori folk festival in Paderborn was temporarily suspended because of the storm.

Lower Saxony also saw powerful thunderstorms with fierce winds. No major damage had been reported by early evening, though police and fire services dealt mainly with fallen trees. A concert by pop singer Alvaro Soler planned for Thursday evening in Hanover was cancelled, and the Maschseefest opened later due to the weather.

Hurricane-force gusts in the north

At Faßberg in Lower Saxony, measuring instruments briefly recorded wind speeds of 148 kilometres per hour. Hurricane force begins at 118 km/h. ARD weather expert Karsten Schwanke said such an event occurs in the north German plain only about once a decade. Initial findings indicated no serious damage, though fallen trees disrupted traffic in places.

Weekend relief and the June benchmark

For Friday the DWD expects highs of up to 27°C in the north and northwest and 27 to 35°C across the rest of the country, with the southeast possibly seeing one more hot day. The late-June heatwave, which lasted from 18 to 28 June, set statistical benchmarks: 467 of 488 DWD stations registered all-time or monthly maximum-temperature records. On the weekend of 26 to 28 June, German temperature records fell on two consecutive days (41.3°C in Saarbrücken-Burbach and 41.8°C in Möckern-Drewitz), surpassing the previous record of 41.2°C set on 25 July 2019 by 0.6 degrees.

Heat-related deaths in 2026

The Robert Koch Institute estimates that nearly 10,000 people in Germany have died this year because of high temperatures. By 19 July the figure stood at 9,800, more than in any single full year since 2016. Over 5,000 of those deaths are attributed to the hot days in the second half of June. Older people are disproportionately affected: 5,420 of the victims were aged 85 or older.