Following a hot summer, September 2026 was also unusually warm and sunny. The end of the month in particular was significantly warmer than usual, the German Weather Service (DWD) said on Tuesday in Offenbach. Summer-like temperatures alternated with cool autumn nights and days. Overall, the first month of autumn in 2026 was unusually warm and, especially in southern Germany, exceptionally sunny.
The average temperature of 15.9 degrees Celsius was around 2.6 degrees above the internationally used reference period of 1961 to 1990. This year’s September was among the ten warmest recorded since 1881. The highest temperature was recorded on September 8 at the Ohlsbach weather station in Baden-Württemberg, where temperatures reached 34.5 degrees.
Temperatures dropped sharply at times during the month. The lowest reading was recorded on September 24, when temperatures fell to minus 1.4 degrees Celsius at Meßstetten-Appental on the Swabian Alb. By the end of the month, however, temperatures rose sharply again. Particularly in southwestern Germany, thermometers climbed back above 30 degrees.
Across Germany, rainfall was around 39 percent below the 1961–1990 reference period. Southwestern Germany received particularly little rain. In Saarland, for example, rainfall amounted to less than five litres per square metre. In contrast, northern Germany and the coastal regions received considerably more rain, with some areas recording up to 125 litres per square metre.
Instead of rain, sunshine was frequent throughout the month. With around 192 hours of sunshine, September 2026 was significantly sunnier than usual across Germany. Southern Germany recorded particularly high amounts of sunshine, with more than 250 hours measured in some areas. In the north, however, sunshine duration in some places did not even reach half the levels recorded in the south.
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