Heat wave ends with storms: record temperatures and chaos in NRW!

Heat wave ends with storms: record temperatures and chaos in NRW!

The heat wave that has been affecting Germany and large parts of Europe for weeks reached its peak on Wednesday. Today, July 2, 2025, Andernach in Rhineland-Palatinate recorded the highest temperature of the year at 39.3 degrees Celsius. Almost scorching temperatures of 39.2 and 39.1 degrees Celsius were also measured in Tangerhütte-Demker in Saxony-Anhalt and Kitzingen in Bavaria, although the all-time record of 41.2 degrees from 2019 remained unmatched. With the end of the heat wave, however, came the storm, which hit North Rhine-Westphalia particularly hard. Radio Leverkusen reports that thunderstorms, heavy rain and squalls devastated large parts of the country.

In Cologne, schools complained of technical problems as sixty-six thermostats and radiator valves in a high school did not work and the central heating had to be turned off. Meanwhile, the German Weather Service announced that the weather would calm down, with temperatures potentially falling by more than ten degrees. Shower-like rain and temperatures between 26 and 32 degrees are forecast for a more pleasant Thursday.

The risk of forest fires in Europe

While Germany is struggling with storms, southern Europe is suffering from an extreme heat wave. Temperatures in countries like Portugal and Spain reach frightening levels of up to 46.6 degrees. In Huelva, Spain, a new heat record was even reported for June with 46 degrees Celsius (Tagesschau). The risk of forest fires is alarmingly high in several countries, including France and Turkey.

In Turkey, over 50,000 people had to be evacuated due to forest fires. Fires have already caused raging destruction in 41 municipalities, while in İzmir around 1,000 firefighters are deployed to put out burning homes. The air is also very tense in France; Here, 84 of 95 departments are affected by heat warnings and dozens of schools have been closed to protect children. Even the water temperature in the Garonne River was so high that the Golfech nuclear power plant had to be shut down.

The effects of the heat wave

The heat wave has had devastating effects not only in Germany, but also in southern Europe. In Spain, for example, two people died in fires in Catalonia, while over 5,000 hectares of land went up in flames. In addition, the extreme heat in Italy turned cities like Rome and Naples into veritable ovens. Italy's Health Ministry has issued extreme heat warnings for 21 cities, with even healthy people at risk of underestimating the heat. Experts also warn that man-made climate change is promoting these extreme weather events (ZDF).

The focus of many countries is now on fighting forest fires, while European citizens hope for an improvement in the weather situation. The impact of recent extremes clearly shows how climate change affects us all, and awareness and action to curb this development must be a central focus of the current discussion.