In movies, books and artwork, snow is guaranteed to show the perfect Christmas. But the picture of the white festival has little to do with reality in Germany. On December 24th and in the following days it rarely snowes in Germany. This has not changed since the beginning of the weather record in 1961, according to the records of the German Weather Service (DWD). There are even dates for some places since 1881.
That many people still have the impression that white Christmas used to be more common, may be due to a snow period in the sixties. At that time there was snow in many places to the festival for several years in a row. In addition, white Christmas is better remembered than gray, rainy.
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The DWD speaks of white Christmas, if on all festive days, so on Christmas Eve and on the first and second Christmas Day, at 7:00 in the morning at least one centimeter of snow lies. Accordingly, the last almost blanket white Christmas was experienced by the people in Germany in 2010. However, this is the exception, whereby the probability of snow for the festival varies depending on the region:
- In the lowlands and in the river basins in the west and southwest, the probability of a closed snowpack is ten percent.
- In the north and northeast, it is slightly higher at 15 to 25 percent.
- In the low mountain ranges you can expect 30 to 50 percent with white Christmas.
- The best are the chances of mountain ridges of the low mountain ranges and in the Alps from a height of 800 to 1000 meters. Snow is almost always here at Christmas.
A new trend can not be derived from weather data so far, says DWD meteorologist Andreas Friedrich. The snow probability for Christmas has remained approximately the same since records began.
"On the Zugspitze there has always been white Christmas since the beginning of the local weather record of 1880," says Friedrich. In addition to the altitude, the proximity to the sea also plays an important role in the likelihood of snow. On Heligoland, Germany's only offshore island, the probability of a festival with snow is just two percent. There are also Christmas white in Berlin and Brandenburg rather than in Lower Saxony.
You can rely on the Christmas thaw
That it snow so seldom at Christmas, is due to the so-called Christmas thaw. This is one of the most reliable weather conditions in Germany, so returns every year at the same time. Here, mild Atlantic air and rain from the west approach and drive away the cold air, which brings between November and mid-December mostly winter weather with freezing temperatures and snowfall to Germany.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / dpa
Christmas tree in a snowy garden in Bavaria (2014): Winters are getting warmer
In 2019, according to current forecasts, there will probably be no white Christmas in most regions.
A change confirmed the DWD statistics but then. The winters were colder in the past. According to the information, it has been in Germany since 1881 in December by 1.7 degrees warmer. If the trend continues over the next few years, this could further reduce the snow probability of Christmas.
