As if the weather in Germany hasn’t been crazy enough recently, it now looks set to get even more extreme: it’s going to get hotter and hotter next week, potentially reaching temperatures of up to 41 degrees.

Heatwave to hit Germany next week

The weather experts are all in agreement on one thing: a heatwave is coming to Germany. The only question is how hot it will get and how long it will last. With temperatures climbing quickly from Monday onwards, the German Weather Service (DWD) expects highs between 38 and 39 degrees already by Tuesday, especially in the south and the southwest of the country. In some areas, it could reach up to 40 degrees.

The general consensus is that the week will start off hot. Temperatures could reach as high as 34 degrees on Tuesday and 38 degrees on Wednesday in most parts of Germany, with the biggest temperature spikes in the west in the Rhineland and Ruhr areas. In Berlin and parts of Brandenburg, it could also reach 40 degrees.

The hot weather could last until the weekend

From Wednesday onwards, however, the weather experts begin to diverge. According to the DWD, the temperature will then drop from Wednesday onwards, with highs on Thursday around the 25 to 30 degree mark in the southeast and the east, and barely above 25 degrees in the west. By Saturday, the temperature will drop further to between 21 and 27 degrees, with even cooler temperatures expected to the north. Inevitably, the heat will be followed by thundery showers and storms.

Other weather experts, however, predict something rather more extreme. Meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann wrote on Twitter that the extreme heat could last well into the weekend in many parts of the country, with temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees on most days next week. By Friday, Kachelmann, Wetter Online and wetter.net all predict a peak of around 41 degrees in many parts of Germany. On Thursday and Friday, the low might not even fall below 27 degrees.

German weather records could be broken

The all-time highest temperature ever recorded in Germany is 40,3 degrees, which was measured in July 2015 in Kitzingen, Franconia. Since weather records began in 1851, the 40-degree mark has never been crossed in Germany in June, with the record high of 38,2 degrees being reached back in 1947.

If the experts’ predictions are correct, however, this could well be broken in the coming days. It might be time to dig out that old sun umbrella, crack open a beer and invest in an electric fan...