March 2022 had the most sunshine since weather records began in 1951. This was reported by the German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach on Wednesday after the first evaluation of the results from its around 2000 measuring stations.
The record is "a very clear distance from the previous leader from 1953," says DWD press spokesman Andreas Friedrich.
March 2022 even exceeded the long-term average for July.
The average temperature was 5.1 degrees Celsius.
With more than 235 hours of sunshine in March, the target of 111 hours for the period 1961 to 1990 was more than doubled.
Compared to 1991 to 2020, the positive deviation was a good 85 percent.
In March 1953, 195 hours of sunshine were measured.
Despite the sunny weather, it remained relatively cold in the first days of March.
Later the month became much milder.
In the third week, temperatures reached a spring-like level due to high "Peter".
The leader was Regensburg with 23.0 degrees last Monday.
However, this high has weakened, which is why colder temperatures now prevail.
With around 20 liters of precipitation per square meter, March 2022 is one of the driest since weather records began.
It only reached 35 percent of the target for the reference period 1961 to 1990. The reason for this were large high-pressure areas, especially in the north-east.
In some areas no precipitation could be measured there.
There was rain towards the end of the month.
Most precipitation was registered in the extreme southeast of Bavaria, sometimes with 30 liters per square meter.
There, in Marktschellenberg, the largest daily amount fell on March 15, at 25.4 liters per square meter.