Based on current monthly figures, on average, German climate has gotten a bit warmer. The average temperature for January 2025 was recorded at around 2 degrees Celsius, compared to 1.5 degrees a year before. In the broader context of climate change, average monthly temperatures are indicative of where the national climate is headed and whether attempts to control global warming are successful. Summer and winter Average summer temperature in Germany fluctuated in recent years, generally between 18 to 19 degrees Celsius. The season remains generally warm, and while there may not be as many hot and sunny days as in other parts of Europe, heat waves have occurred. In fact, 2023 saw 11.5 days with a temperature of at least 30 degrees, though this was a decrease compared to the year before. Meanwhile, average winter temperatures also fluctuated, but were higher in recent years, rising over four degrees on average in 2024. Figures remained in the above zero range since 2011. Numbers therefore suggest that German winters are becoming warmer, even if individual regions experiencing colder sub-zero snaps or even more snowfall may disagree. Rain, rain, go away Average monthly precipitation varied depending on the season, though sometimes figures from different times of the year were comparable. In 2024, the average monthly precipitation was highest in May and September, although rainfalls might increase in October and November with the beginning of the cold season. In the past, torrential rains have led to catastrophic flooding in Germany, with one of the most devastating being the flood of July 2021. Germany is not immune to the weather changing between two extremes, e.g. very warm spring months mostly without rain, when rain might be wished for, and then increased precipitation in other months where dry weather might be better, for example during planting and harvest seasons. Climate change remains on the agenda in all its far-reaching ways.

In 2023/2024, the average winter temperature in Germany was *** degrees Celsius. That winter was part of a growing list of warmer winters in the country. Figures had increased noticeably compared to the 1960s. Warmer in the winter Everyone has a different perception of what actually makes a cold or warm winter, but the fact is that winter temperatures are, indeed, changing in Germany, and its 16 federal states are feeling it. Also in 2022/2023, Bremen and Hamburg in the north recorded the highest average figures at around 4 degrees each. The least warm states that year, so to speak, were Thuringia, Saxony, and Bavaria. The German National Meteorological Service (Deutscher Wetterdienst or DWD), a federal office, monitors the weather in Germany. Global warming Rising temperatures are a global concern, with climate change making itself known. While these developments may be influenced by natural events, human industrial activity has been another significant contributor for centuries now. Greenhouse gas emissions play a leading part in global warming. This leads to warmer seasons year-round and summer heat waves, as greenhouse gas emissions cause solar heat to remain in the Earth’s atmosphere. In fact, as of 2022, Germany recorded **** days with a temperature of at least 30 degrees Celcius, which was more than three times the increase compared to 2021.

In 2024, the average summer temperature in Germany was **** degrees Celsius. This was basically unchanged compared to the year before. While figures fluctuated during the given timeline, there were regular peaks, and in general, temperatures had grown noticeably since the 1960s. Not beating the heat German summers are getting hotter, and as desired as warm weather may be after months of winter (which, incidentally, also warms up year after year), this is another confirmation of global warming. Higher summer temperatures have various negative effects on both nature and humans. Recent years in Germany have seen a growing number of hot days with a temperature of at least 30 degrees, with **** recorded in 2023. However, this was a decrease compared to the year before. The number of deaths due to heat and sunlight had peaked in 2015. Rain or shine All the German states saw less sunshine hours in 2023 compared to the previous year. The sunniest states were Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saarland. Meanwhile, summer precipitation in Germany varied greatly during the same timeline as presented in this graph, but 2022 was one of the dryest years yet.

Fucus vesiculosus L. (Phaeophyceae) is the most abundant and hence ecologically most important primary producer, carbon sink and habitat provider in the western Baltic Sea. All F. vesiculosus L. specimens were collected on 23 April 2014 from a depth of 0.2-1 m in the non-tidal Kiel Fjord, western Baltic Sea (54°27'N; 10°12'E), where this species forms dense and almost monospecific stands on stones. After sampling the algal thalli were stored in a refrigerator box with water from the sampling site, transported to Bremerhaven and stored at 10 °C for one day in filtered seawater. Experiments were conducted with vegetative apical tips (6.7±0.5 cm length), the actively growing region of F. vesiculosus, which were randomly selected and cut from 144 different individuals prior to the experiments. These tips were acclimated to laboratory conditions for three days in filtered seawater at 10 °C before the start of the experiment. Furthermore, 30 additional vegetative apices were freeze-dried to document the initial biochemical status of F. vesiculosus in its native habitat. A temperature gradient was installed in a walk-in constant cooling chamber (15 °C) in nine water baths (5, 10, 15, 20, 24, 26, 27, 28 and 29 °C ± 0.1 °C) which were tempered by thermostats (5, 10 and 15 °C: Huber Variostat CC + Pilot ONE, Peter Huber Kältemaschinen GmbH, Offenburg, Germany; 20 and 28 °C: Haake DC3, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, USA; 24, 26, 27 and 29 °C: Haake DC10). Every temperature treatment consisted of four 2 L glass beakers (n = 4). In each beaker four F. vesiculosus apices were grown in 2 µm-filtered North Sea water diluted with demineralized water in a ratio of 1:1 and enriched with nutrients after Provasoli (1968; 1/10 enrichment), leading to a salinity of about 15.6 which equaled habitat conditions. The algae were exposed to an irradiance of 130 µmol photons m-2 s-1 ±10 % (Powerstar HGI-TS 150 W, OSRAM GmbH, Bad Homburg, Germany) measured at the top of the beaker under a 16:8 h L:D cycle. The media in the beakers was changed every third or fourth day and aerated with artificial air containing 380 ppm CO2 (gas mixing device; HTK Hamburg GmbH, Hamburg, Germany). Before the experiment, the algae were acclimated to the final temperatures in steps of 5 °C for 2 days each, beginning at 10 °C. After 21 days exposure time, three out of four samples per replicate were freeze-dried for further biochemical analyses, and afterwards the thermostats were turned off to reduce the temperature to 16±0.4 °C for another 10 days permitting growth under post-culture conditions.