DWD warns of new severe weather: Heavy rain and thunderstorms moving across the north on Sunday

Basements were also locally flooded. The DWD expects the heat wave to end with the new severe weather. "Neue Unwetter - aber Hitzewelle endet," the weather service summarized the development. On Saturday, it is expected to be mostly heavily clouded and largely dry in the north and northwest with maximum temperatures of 19 to 25 degrees, and initially clear to partly cloudy in the rest of the country at 24 to 29 degrees.

Return of thunderstorms across the North Sea

Meteorologist Martin Gudd from the ARD Weather Competence Center in Frankfurt explained that the thunderstorms from Friday would initially move away across the Baltic Sea, circle around the low-pressure system and return across the North Sea to Lower Saxony on Sunday night. "Punktuelle Gewitter haben die Angewohnheit, sich auszubreiten und zu großflächigen Regengebieten zu verschmelzen," said Gudd. Monday would not repeat itself, he emphasized with regard to the severe weather situation at the beginning of the week.

On Saturday, the DWD expects summery mixed weather in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony with temperatures up to 20 degrees on the coasts and 20 to 25 degrees inland. Gudd spoke of "typischem Rückseitenwetter", but with temperatures unusually warm for the season. The North Sea is currently warmer than normal, he said.

Warnings for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Severe weather warnings are already in effect for parts of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, including the districts of Nordwestmecklenburg and Rostock. The warnings predict heavy rain with hail and severe thunderstorms, and gale-force gusts are also possible. In Vorpommern-Rügen, the rain could continue late into the night according to Gudd's assessment, after which the sultry weather will initially be gone.

On Sunday, according to the DWD, the returning thunderstorms are expected to reach the Lower Saxon North Sea coast. The forecast calls for rainfall amounts of up to 30 liters per square meter per hour on Sunday night, especially in the Cuxhaven region, in the Wilhelmshaven area and into the Lüneburg Heath. Maximum temperatures on Sunday will generally reach 19 to 23 degrees, up to 25 degrees on the Upper Rhine, and only 17 to 20 degrees on the coasts and in the Alps.

Forest fire in the Müritz National Park

On Friday evening, the districts of Harburg, Heidekreis, Celle, Nienburg, Diepholz, Vechta and Osnabrück in Lower Saxony were potentially affected by thunderstorms according to the DWD. On Sunday, it will be partly cloudy: While in the north, east, southeast as well as in the Alps showers and isolated thunderstorms may develop, it will mostly be dry in the west and southwest with more sunshine.

NDR launches regional WhatsApp channels

Meanwhile, emergency services have been battling a forest fire in the Müritz National Park northwest of Neustrelitz since Thursday. According to the DWD, hundreds of emergency personnel are deployed across an area of up to 400 hectares. The extent to which the rain front will affect the forest fire area initially remained unclear.

The NDR has meanwhile launched five new regional WhatsApp channels that provide regional news on weekdays, including for the regions of Hannover/Celle/Hildesheim, Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Cuxhaven and Osnabrück/Emsland. Users can also find out about current weather warnings there.