For animals and plants that suffer from the drought of the past few weeks, it is good news: With the dry and sunny autumn weather it is over for the time being, according to the German Weather Service (DWD). Instead, Germany is facing the first autumn storm of the season next week.
"The golden October comes to an end," said the DWD meteorologist Jacqueline Kernn. On monday it remains sunny and dry at temperatures of 11 to 16 degrees. On the night of Tuesday it rains but then sporadically, first in the south, then in the north. Temperatures drop to seven to zero degrees.
From Tuesday Germany is between a low over southern Scandinavia and a high above the Atlantic. The result: strong and stormy gusts all over the country, gale-force gusts on the coasts and on the mountains. So also moist sea air gets into the country and brings rain. Rainfall occurs almost throughout the country, especially on the northern edges of the mountains. Only the southwest stays mostly dry. The temperatures are 11 to 14 degrees.
Even in the night of Wednesday it is to rain in strong clouds and only slowly decreasing wind area by area. With rain it goes on almost everywhere in Germany on Wednesday . Only in the northeast it remains largely dry.
End of a weeks-long drought
The rains end a weeks-long drought in many regions. According to forecasters, the year 2018 could be the five driest since records began in 1884. About 70 percent of the surface of Germany is currently affected by extreme drought, said the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday.
The consequences were, inter alia, on the Rhine. Its level fell to a low in Karlsruhe. At 3.14 meters (Maxau gauge), according to the flood forecasting center Baden-Württemberg, the value of 22 September 2003 was 3.20 meters below. This marks the lowest value in the period from 1996 to 2005. An even lower water level had been measured on September 27, 1972 at 3.02.
The German farmers are also suffering from the dry year. They drove the worst harvest in years. In August, Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner (CDU) had up to 170 million euros Dürrehilfen in prospect. The other half of the total amount should be borne by the Länder. A total of 340 million euros will be distributed to farmers - but under strict conditions.
According to this, there is aid if the average crop yield on arable land and grassland is more than 30 percent lower than the average for the past three years. There is money only if the business would not be in danger of drought.
In addition, numerous other criteria have to be fulfilled. "We fear that some bureaucratic hurdles will exclude many affected businesses from the relief effort," said Rukwied.