As of: April 7, 2024, 3:26 p.m
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The first weekend in April started with record temperatures. © Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
There is sunshine in April: the month that, according to farmers' wisdom, does what it wants, has a midsummer weekend. At 30 degrees, a heat record was probably broken.
Ohlsbach/Frankfurt - They have not been exposed as a late April Fool's joke: the meteorologists' heat forecasts have come true. According to preliminary information, there has never been a hot day so early in the year since systematic weather recording began in Germany.
In Ohlsbach in the Rhine Valley, 30.1 degrees were measured on Saturday, as the German Weather Service announced. It is officially a hot day from 30 degrees.
So far, the German record for the monthly decade (April 1st to April 10th) was 27.7 degrees, measured in 2011. Large parts of the other German measuring stations also registered new highs for their region that day, especially in the central and southern federal states, as a DWD spokesman said.
However, the record values are only preliminary figures. The data will therefore be checked again in the coming days.
Sunshine activities and bubbling in the swimming lake
In many places on Saturday and Sunday it looked like a normal summer weekend: people were out on their (motor) bikes or hiking. Pedal boats sailed across lakes and people flew kites on the coast. Seats in the outdoor restaurants were often well occupied. Queues formed in front of ice cream parlors, and in some places even dogs got a portion.
You had to be tough if you jumped into the lakes or natural pools that were already open - the water was sometimes only ten degrees cold. But that didn't deter some.
It remained just as seasonal in Bonn: the cherries there are in full bloom, which attracted many people to the avenues to take photos. In the Eifel, hikers could marvel at the blossoms of wild daffodils. This only happens in spring.
A summer day is at least 25 degrees
Just like a short hello in midsummer in April is a record, but nothing unique: the current monthly high was registered on April 28, 2012. It was 32.9 degrees that day in Bad Mergentheim (Baden-Württemberg) and Kitzingen (Bavaria).
And between 2009 and 2022, according to the DWD, there was always at least one day in April with more than 25 degrees in Germany. By the way, this is the meteorological definition of a summer day: the maximum air temperature must be at least 25 degrees.
Weather ailments: migraines, circulation and fatigue
This warmth has its downsides: you can suffer from its effects. People tolerate high temperatures this early in the year even less well than at the end of summer, when they would have gotten used to the warmth, explains medical meteorologist Kathrin Graw from the German Weather Service.
There are also changes in the weather, which, according to Graw, can lead to headaches, migraines, fatigue, sleep disorders, fatigue, circulatory problems and poor concentration. Many allergy sufferers are also currently suffering: exposure to birch and ash pollen is high.
For many others, however, summer weather awakens the feeling of spring: “People are becoming more active and going outdoors more. This lifts the mood and spreads a good mood,” explains medical meteorologist Graw. The sun's rays stimulate the production of vitamin D and serotonin - the latter is also known as the happiness hormone, which has a mood-enhancing effect.
April does what he wants - and so does May
According to the DWD, various factors play a role in the current weather situation: an Atlantic that is too warm, coupled with a current from the southwest, which is further intensified by a hurricane low west of Ireland. Added to this is the sunny weather. The extreme temperatures cannot therefore be explained solely by climate change, explained the head of the DWD regional advisory service in Munich, Guido-Peter Wolz.
A magnolia blooms in the spring sunshine on a river in the Spreewald. © Frank Hammerschmidt/dpa
And the changeable April weather is well known - and can be expected in the next few days. Basically following the old farmer's rule “April, April - he does what he wants”, there is a cold snap.
From the North Sea to the Allgäu and west, temperatures will no longer reach 20 degrees on Tuesday, and in the east it will cool down accordingly from Wednesday. On Thursday night there may even be light frost near the ground in the southern half. “Then after the early summer interlude, it’s time to scratch cars again in the morning, at least in some places,” said DWD meteorologist Nico Bauer.
And balcony and garden owners who have already planted their boxes over the days, euphoric about the weather, should have some cold fleece or a sheet ready for cold-sensitive plants in case of frost.
By the way, this will also continue in the next few weeks: This changeable weather can occur in Germany even until mid-May, until after the so-called Ice Saints - and usually there will be frost. dpa