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Germany: 2023 set to be warmest year on record

December 27, 2023

This year is expected to be the warmest on record in Germany, with an annual temperature of 10.6 degrees forecast by the German Meteorological Office. The announcement follows weeks of flooding across the country.

https://p.dw.com/p/4acDv
An aerial view shows a swimming pool surrounded by the flood waters of the river Ruhr in Essen, western Germany on December 26, 2023.
Six German states have battled rising water levels over the Christmas period.Image: Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

According to the German Meteorological Office (DWD), 2023 is on course to be the warmest year since records began in 1881.

The figure eclipses 2022's annual temperature of 10.5 degrees, which was the previous warmest year and on par with 2018, making the past two years the two warmest on record.

While releasing the average annual temperature five days before the end of the year, the DWD will publish its official figures on December 29, including further details such as exact rainfall and sunshine levels.

Germany data mirrors global temperature rise

According to the EU climate change service Copernicus, 2023 was also globally the hottest year since records began.

According to Copernicus, global average temperatures were 1.46 degrees above the pre-industrial reference period from 1850 to 1900.

So far, 2023 has been 0.13 degrees warmer than the first 11 months of 2016, the previous record year.

To keep global warming below 1.5 degrees in the long term, as agreed in Paris in 2015, emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases must be reduced by 43% by 2030.

Germany hit by major floods

The new data comes as much of Germany remains underwater following weeks of downpours and persistent wet weather.

The DWD had issued flood warnings for six states in Germany ahead of the Christmas holidays, with parts of Lower Saxony in the northwest, Bavaria in the south, and Hesse, North-Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate in the west most affected.

The final days of the year are set to remain largely dry, the DWD said.

Germany also experienced major flooding in June, with Lower Saxony, North-Rhine Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate the worst-affected states.

In 2021, 184 people died in Germany's worst floods in decades, with the majority of the deaths in Rhineland-Palatinate.

This report was written in part with material from the German Press Agency (DPA).