Sharp weather contrastsRisk of severe squalls precedes new heat wave
July 2, 2026, 3:43 pm 
Paul Heger
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It’s getting colder in the north now, but not without the risk of sometimes strong storms. (Photo: photo alliance/dpa)SplitFollow along:
All of Germany is talking about the old and coming heat wave. Regionally, it will be anything but mid-summer. Strong squalls sometimes not only resemble autumn weather, but also pose a serious danger.
The weather will be completely different in the coming days. While the heat retreats to the extreme southwest, the northeastern half cools significantly and experiences harsh winds. Reason: The Azores high, with its heat, is moving much further from the southwestern coast of Europe. At the same time, Deep Zoe moves from Scotland to southern Scandinavia.
Due to the large temperature contrasts across Europe (40 degrees in Spain and 15 degrees in Scotland), this new minimum has plenty of energy. It develops into a real summer storm, which also hits northern Germany.
It is already very windy in parts of northern Germany. In the North Sea, isolated wind gusts reached 80 kilometers per hour. On Friday morning there was already a strong roar on the banks. Speeds of around 70 or 80 km/h are common, and on Sylt even higher than 90 km/h. On Friday the focus will shift to the Baltic Sea, where speeds of up to 100 km/h are possible just off the coast.
Now in the summer, when the leaves have appeared on the trees, this can be very dangerous. Large branches quickly break off. Even trees can fall in rows. You will also feel this strong wind in the interior of northern Germany. Even in Berlin on Friday gusts of up to 60 and maybe 70 km/h are possible. Winds will remain in the north and northeast over the weekend. In the new week, this will probably continue at least until Wednesday – there will be no storm, but strong winds.
The peak will again reach 35 degrees.
The northeastern half will also see patchy clouds and showers. Even thunderstorms are possible. It’s probably more like fall than summer. Directly on the coasts there were only 1 to 3 hot days, in the southwest there were already up to 23 days with temperatures above 30 degrees.
This contrast is of course nothing unusual, but it highlights the two worlds in which Germany finds itself in terms of weather. Because in the southwest temperatures continue to reach around 30 degrees every day. Here you can experience the endless sunny weather of midsummer. If that’s too much for you, a short trip to northeast Germany might cool you down – at least for now.
Because the next heat wave is approaching and is already being hotly debated. The question of exactly when and how brutally remains open. The battle between the strengthening Azores high over southwest Europe and the lows over Scandinavia will continue for some time, with the first half of the week playing out as described above. But as the weekend approaches, it will get hotter and hotter from the southwest. At peak temperatures you can easily expect 35 degrees. Even in the north it will be 25-30 degrees again, and the cooling will stop.
We will have to wait and see how the journey continues. Overall, it looks like times are warm to hot. A heat wave of around 40 degrees is still possible. At the same time, the trend looks very dry. This is not a very good prospect for Lake Constance, for example, which is already recording record low levels. The Rhine and neighboring rivers may also soon face serious problems.