Given the unusually mild weather Germany has been experiencing over the past few weeks, you could be forgiven for thinking that spring had fully sprung. Well, the bad news is: another cold snap is heading this way. The good news is: it’ll only be short-lived. 

Cold snap brings chillier weather to Germany

Spring arrived in style at the end of February, bringing balmy temperatures of up to 20 degrees to Germany - a very sudden change from the week before, which saw snow and lows of minus 15 degrees. Even on Wednesday the temperature was as high as 17 degrees. 

But spring has not managed to establish itself once and for all just yet. It is being driven away by a “broken polar vortex”, which has also been responsible for cold March snaps in previous years. A low pressure front from Russia will sweep over Germany in the coming days, bringing chilly temperatures, frosty nights, and even the chance of snow. 

“Warm days are over for the time being”

As of Thursday the “warm days are over for the time being,” said meteorologist Dominik Jung to wetter.net. “The maximum temperatures will drop significantly, and stay below the 10 degrees mark at the weekend.” 

“If this low becomes stronger, it could even bring in snowfall from the east or southeast,” said meteorologist Bernd Madlener on wetter.com, advising that everyone should get out their winter coats, scarves and hats for Thursday. “From March 4 to 6, it will be significantly colder and there will be more night frosts,” he said. 

The German Weather Service (DWD) is predicting a cold snap with fresh snow in the Alpine regions for Thursday, March 4. The low temperature will be somewhere between 3 degrees in the south and -3 degrees in the north. The DWD has also advised that there is a risk of black ice forming on the roads. 

Cold, sunny weather this weekend in Germany

From Friday, the DWD is predicting heavy precipitation in the south. There is the chance this will fall as snow, but at lower altitudes, rain is, unfortunately, more likely. The country will mostly be dry, with alternating cloudy and sunny patches. The maximum temperature will be between 2 and 8 degrees; and at night it will fall to a chilly -2 to -8 degrees. 

Saturday will be mostly dry, with heavy cloud cover in the north of the country. Elsewhere there will be lots of sunshine with maximum temperatures between 4 degrees at the coast and 9 degrees in the southwest. It will be another chilly night, with temperatures dipping as low as -10 degrees on higher ground. 

Sunday will see some light drizzle in northern Germany, but lots of sunshine and dry weather everywhere else. The temperature will hover between 6 and 11 degrees.