Red alarm level: Tornados and hail threaten in northern Germany!

Red alarm level: Tornados and hail threaten in northern Germany!

Grevesmühlen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Deutschland - On May 29, 2025, the deep "Ole" moves across Germany and brings serious storms with it. The center and north of the country are particularly affected. Meteorologists warn of huge thunderstorms, strong gusts, hail and heavy rain; Even tornadoes cannot be excluded. Weather expert Dominik Jung reports that "one shower hunted the next one" and lightning -like change of weather are to be expected. Affected regions are Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, while heavy rain is also to be expected in the Alps and in the Black Forest.

Already on Tuesday evening, May 27th, the first thunderstorms began to remain safe. But the risk of super cells, particularly large and dangerous thunderstorms, is in the room. These can go hand in hand with hail, strong gusts of wind and possible tornados. The article by HNA also informs that a lightning strike in Grevesmühlen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, injured seven people on Wednesday; One of them had to be taken to the hospital.

The course of the storm

The weather forecast assumes that a cold front pulls from the west to the southeast in the evening. Stronger thunderstorms, toddlers hail, heavy rain and stormy gusts can be expected. The German Weather Service does not exclude “isolated tornados”. According to other predictions, the weather will be windy on the coasts on Thursday and Friday, but the weather races should gradually lie down. On Saturday there could be thunderstorms that move from the West across the middle to East Saxony and go hand in hand with heavy heavy rain of around 30 liters per square meter and hail collections.

Super cells are complex weather systems that differ from conventional heat shakers. You need high humidity, a significant temperature difference between the floor and atmosphere and a strong increase in the wind in the higher layers. These conditions mean that super cells can be active for several hours, while normal thunderstorms usually only last about 30 minutes. They occur especially in Central Europe during the summer, but their potential is independent of the time of day, as reported.

climate change and extreme weather

The increase in such extreme weather events is increasingly caused by climate change, according to the WWF. The latest reports from the IPCC show that global warming caused by human actions increase the intensity and frequency of extreme weather conditions. Heat waves and heavy rain, which used to be rare, are becoming more and more common today. In Germany, for example, the flood disaster in July 2021 called for more than 180 lives and led to the destruction of entire existence and villages.

In addition, an investigation by the “World Weather Attribution” initiative shows that heavy rainfalls in Western Europe have become 1.2 to 9 times more likely due to climate change. The need to take measures against the climate crisis is becoming more and more urgent. Experts demand that the federal government should prioritize climate and environmental protection, including the expansion of renewable energies and the faster exit from fossil energies.

Overall, the latest weather events and the scientific knowledge of climate change make it clear that society must be better prepared for the challenges of the changing climate. Extreme weather events are not only to be expected, they could also increase in intensity unless effective measures are taken.