🇩🇪Germany

Germany extends from 47°16′ to 55°03′N across central Europe, spanning the North Sea and Baltic coasts, the North German Plain at approximately 0 to 100 m elevation, the Central Uplands or Mittelgebirge—including the Harz, Eifel, Thuringian Forest, Black Forest, and Erzgebirge at 600 to 1,500 m—the Alpine Foreland, and the Bavarian Alps rising to Zugspitze at 2,962 m on the Austrian border.

The climate forms a transition from oceanic Cfb in the west and northwest—encompassing Cologne, Bremen, and Hamburg—to humid continental Dfb in the east, including Berlin and Dresden, and at higher elevations, with cooler Dfc and alpine ET on the highest peaks of the Black Forest, Harz, and Bavarian Alps. Westerly winds deliver Atlantic depressions year-round, moderating temperatures along the coast while the interior and eastern regions experience more pronounced seasonal swings.

Berlin averages 0°C in January and 19°C in July with 570 mm of rainfall showing a summer-convection peak. Munich in the Alpine foreland is colder at −2°C in January and 18°C in July with 960 mm and frequent foehn winds. Hamburg displays a mild oceanic character at 1°C in January and 17°C in July with 770 mm of rain.

Freiburg in the warm Upper Rhine valley routinely records summer temperatures between 38 and 40°C, contributing to the national record of 41.2°C at Tönisvorst and Duisburg-Baerl on 25 July 2019. Zugspitze averages −5°C annually with persistent snow cover. Major events include the 1947 winter, the August 2002 Elbe flood, the 2003 European heatwave, the 2013 Danube floods, the July 2021 Ahr Valley floods (over 180 deaths), and the 2018–2020 megadrought.

Our archive covers 1 German cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The warmest July averages occur in Berlin, around 23°C, while Berlin records the coldest January nights near −2.6°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 2.2°C.