It’s almost mid-October but Germany is still expecting to see highs of between 24 and 26 degrees celsius over the afternoon of October 11 and into October 12.

26C forecast for Dresden and Stuttgart

The leaves are turning and the nights are drawing in but sporadic summer temperatures are prevailing in Germany this autumn. After summer weather in the late twenties lasted long into September, what seemed like the beginning of autumn has revealed itself as a sojourn, with highs of 26 degrees now being forecast for the coming two days.

Locals in the major eastern cities of Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden can expect to see temperatures of 24, 25 and 26 degrees respectively on the evening of October 11. Things will be cooler further inland, with Hanover and Brocken forecast for 22 and 16 degrees.

On to the west, residents and tourists in Cologne and Frankfurt can expect 25 degrees, same goes for Munich. Down in the southwest, those in Stuttgart can put away their scarves again for two days and expect 26 degrees.

Going into Thursday, October 12, many of the more northern cities, Cologne and Frankfurt will return to below 20 degrees, but temperatures will creep up again everywhere on Friday, with Munich reaching 27 degrees.

2023 on track to be the hottest year

The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service now says that 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record. Global temperatures during September 2023 already exceeded record levels by a large margin, following the hottest July and August ever recorded. Climate scientists put this down to the El Niño phenomenon, which refers to the periodic warming of surface water in the Pacific Ocean, which drives up global temperatures. 

While the impact of El Niño, combined with uncurbed carbon dioxide emissions, is likely to make 2023 the hottest year on record, it is expected that the effects of El Niño will be even more apparent one year after the phenomenon began, meaning 2024 is on track to break more records.

A new study by Germany’s Institute for Ecological Economic Research has revealed that at the current rate of policy development, extreme weather caused by climate change could cost the federal republic as much as 900 billion euros in cumulative economic damage by 2050.

Thumb image credit: PHOTO FUN / Shutterstock.com