Germany sees one of its driest springs in over 140 years

Germany has experienced one of the three driest springs since measurements began more than 140 years ago. As the German Weather Service (DWD) announced in Offenbach on Friday, an average of only about 96 liters of precipitation per square meter fell nationwide from March to May. Only the springs of 1893, with about 85.3 liters, and 2011, with 89.5 liters, were Germany drier.

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According to meteorologists, the amount of precipitation was only about half of what was expected. During the so-called reference period from 1961 to 1990, which is used for long-term scientific comparisons, an average of 186 liters per square meter fell in this country each spring. The deviation was thus 48 percent. Compared to the more recent reference period from 1991 to 2020, the decrease was still 44 percent.

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According to the weather service, the precipitation deficit was "particularly striking" in northeastern Germany. In many places there, only about 40 liters per square meter fell between the beginning of March and the end of May. The situation was different in the Alpine foothills of Bavaria, for example, where more than 300 liters were measured locally.

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According to the German Weather Service (DWD), the long-term warming trend continued, despite overall strong temperature fluctuations. With an average temperature of 9.8 degrees Celsius, spring 2025 was 2.1 degrees above the average for the reference period from 1961 to 1990. April was the seventh warmest month since measurements began in 1888, bringing "unusually early summer warmth." The first day with temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius occurred on April 12 in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.

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The first temperature exceeding 30 degrees Celsius was recorded on May 2nd by a DWD station in Waghäusel-Kirrlach, Baden-Württemberg, in the Upper Rhine Valley, the weather service further announced. It operates approximately 2,000 such stations nationwide. According to initial analyses of the data collected there, spring 2025 was also the third sunniest on record, with an average of around 695 hours of sunshine.