With another heatwave on its way to Germany, weather experts are now saying that it could be record-breaking: the thermometer is expected to exceed a blistering 40 degrees this Thursday. The western part of the country will be particularly affected. 

Heatwave fiercest in west Germany

If model calculations of the German Weather Service (DWD) are correct, Thursday could be a historic day for weather in Germany. With temperatures of up 40 degrees already reached this week in Saarland and the Moselle Valley, forecasters are expecting Thursday to be the hottest day of the week. 

The places worst affected are likely to be the Ruhr area (including Cologne) the Moselle Valley and Saarland, where the thermometer might even exceed the 41-degree mark. 40 degrees are also expected on Thursday in the Rhine-Main area.

New heat records could be set

It therefore looks likely that Germany’s all-time heat record of 40,3 degrees, which was measured in Kitzingen in July 2015, could be surpassed. “If these predictions are met, this heatwave would go down in the history books,” DWD spokesperson Andreas Friedrich said. “As a meteorologist, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Along with the sweltering daytime temperatures, we can look forward to some hot and sticky nights. In the Ruhr area especially, it looks as if the temperature at night on Thursday will not fall below 25 degrees. Current forecasts are predicting four consecutive “tropical nights” in the region. (Our tips for sleeping during a heatwave might come in useful!)

Heat and UV warnings in place

Preemptive heat and UV warnings are already in place for the whole of Germany, with the expectation that further warnings will be issued. As happened during the June heatwave, if the so-called “perceived temperature” rises above 38 degrees during the day, the DWD will issue a weather warning level 2. For level 1, the temperature needs to rise above 32 degrees. 

This latest heatwave is the fourth experienced in Germany so far this summer - an unusually large number, according to weather experts. New record temperatures were already set last month, as it was the warmest and sunniest June since the beginning of nationwide measurements.