Germany's Springtime Drought: One of the Driest in 140 Years
Germany Experiences One of the Driest Springs in Over a Century and a Half Due to Inadequate Rainfall - Germany faces one of the driest spring seasons since accurate record-keeping began over 140 years ago.
Spring 2025 has been an exceptionally dry season in Germany, with an overwhelming shortage of rainfall compared to historical records. The German Weather Service (DWD) records show that the country received a paltry average of just 96 liters of rain per square meter during the spring season [2][3]. This makes spring 2025 one of the driest on record, with only 1893 and 2011 reporting less precipitation since the country started tracking weather patterns in 1881.
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Meticulous analysis of the data collected by the DWD reveals that spring 2025's precipitation was only about half of the long-term average for the season. While the more recent reference period (1991–2020) typically experiences much higher rainfall, the deficit in 2025 still stands out significantly [3]. In northeastern Germany, the shortage was particularly striking, with many areas receiving approximately 40 liters per square meter between early March and late May [2]. Conversely, parts of the Alpine foothills in Bavaria saw over 300 liters of rainfall locally.
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Despite the drastic temperature fluctuations, the long-term warming trend persisted. With an average temperature of 9.8 degrees Celsius, spring 2025 was 1.9 degrees above the average of the reference period (1961–1990). April was the seventh warmest on record, bringing "abnormally early summer heat" [2]. The first day with temperatures surpassing 25 degrees was recorded as early as April 12 in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland [2].
For the first time, temperatures exceeded 30 degrees as early as May 2 at a DWD station in Waghäusel-Kirrlach in the Upper Rhine Valley [2]. The DWD operates approximately 2,000 such stations nationwide, and initial evaluations suggest that spring 2025 was also the third sunniest on average, with around 695 hours of sunshine [3].
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The dry and warm spring had a profound impact on the environment and resources in Germany. The Rhine River at Cologne measured just 1.54 meters in April, which is around half the usual level for that period, reflecting the severe impact on river flows and water resources [1]. This trend is in line with the ongoing drought conditions affecting France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, and the UK [4][1]. Furthermore, climate change has been found to have contributed to 24 out of 50 extreme heat days recorded in Germany over the past year [2]. As a result, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and water supply are significant.
- The exceptionally dry spring of 2025 in Germany, one of the driest on record, has raised concerns within the environmental science community about potential effects on the country's climate-change mitigation strategies.
- The science community is now focusing their attention on understanding the relationship between the ongoing dry conditions, climate-change patterns, and the resources and ecosystems in Germany, particularly with regards to agriculture and water supply.
