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Passers-by near the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg
Photo: Marcus Brandt / dpa
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), this Wednesday was the hottest day of the year so far – and also one of the hottest in Germany.
In six federal states, the highest temperature values have been measured there since the weather records began.
According to preliminary information, Hamburg
cracked the 40-degree mark
for the first time since weather recording began.
Shortly after 4 p.m., 40.1 degrees were measured in Hamburg-Neuwiedenthal.
According to "Kachelmannwetter" and the NDR, it has never been so warm so far north in Germany.
The highest temperature in Germany reached Bad Mergentheim-Neunkirchen at 3.30 p.m. with 40.3 degrees, as a DWD spokesman reported.
The previous record for
Baden-Württemberg
of 40.2 degrees in Freiburg in August 19 years ago (13 August 2003) was also broken.
In addition, 40.0 were achieved in Barsinghausen-Hohenbostel (
Lower Saxony
record) and Huy-Pabstorf (
Saxony-Anhalt
record).
Current heat record in Germany is from 2019
In
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
, a state record of 39.4 degrees was measured in Boizenburg and in
Schleswig-Holstein
, a state record of 39.1 degrees in Grambek.
According to the German weather service, the values are
provisional
, the DWD could still adjust them after an examination in the coming days.
This is also the tenth time that temperatures of more than 40 degrees have been measured in one day in Germany since records began – the last time this was on July 25, 2019.
At that time, however, this was not only the case at four stations, but at 22 DWD stations.
July 25, 2019 also remains the nationwide heat record day: According to the DWD, 41.2 degrees Celsius were measured at the North Rhine-Westphalian stations in Duisburg and Tönisvorst on the Lower Rhine near Krefeld.
Thunderstorm expected - then it will probably be warm again
For Wednesday evening and Thursday night, the DWD warned of
severe thunderstorms and storms.
A storm front should move over parts of
Baden-Württemberg
earlier in the evening , said a DWD spokesman.
A little later in the night it should be thunderstorms
, especially in
North Rhine-Westphalia
and in
western Lower Saxony .
Heavy rain, which could last longer, is to be expected there, the spokesman said.
It could get hotter again at the weekend and at the beginning of the new week.
Temperatures of 30 to 35 degrees are normal for this time - but 35 to 40 degrees are above average, as measured on Tuesday.
Overall, it was far too dry, said the DWD expert.
The forest burned
in several parts of Germany
.
An area of more than 30,000 square meters burned
near
Sundern in Sauerland , a police spokesman said.
Around 400 emergency services were on site.
Several forest fires also broke out
in the
Saxon district of Meissen .
In Baden-Württemberg, Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) warned that even the smallest spark could "lead to a fire with potentially devastating consequences".
The situation in Europe
The southern European countries, meanwhile, have been dramatically affected by the heat wave.
On the
southern French Atlantic coast
, the fire brigade has been fighting two large forest fires for more than a week.
The flames continued to spread on Wednesday night, but more slowly.
A total of 20,600 hectares of land have already burned near Landiras and Teste-de-Buch south of Bordeaux.
That is almost the area of the urban area of Stuttgart.
French President Emmanuel Macron visited the region and promised support.
In
Portugal
there were 25 larger and smaller forest fires on Wednesday morning, which were fought by a total of 1,200 emergency services, according to civil defense ANEPC.
Of greatest concern were two fires in the municipalities of
Chaves
and
Murça
in the Vila Real district,
east of the metropolis of Porto
.
According to the information, more than 900 emergency services were active in these two fires alone.
In the fight against these fires, however, great progress has recently been made, it said.
More than a thousand people had to leave their settlements because of the fires.
At least three people were killed and 223 injured.
(Read here why Europe is becoming a heat hotspot. )
In
Tuscany, Italy
, more than a hundred firefighters continued to battle a large forest fire near the city of
Lucca
.
Around 500 residents in the area of the municipality of Massarosa were brought to safety from the flames, the fire brigade said.
Regional President Eugenio Giani tweeted that some gas tanks had exploded.
kko/dpa