Spring has really arrived in Germany since last week. Strong westerly winds brought not only rain and squalls to us, but also mild spring air. And so the temperatures are currently rising to 15 to 20 degrees. It is warmest on the Rhine.

Temperatures range from 2 to 8 degrees above normal throughout the week.

Jet stream over Germany

It remains volatile in most parts of the country. Sun, rain or showers alternate quickly. The further north you go, the windier it gets. And gusts of wind up to 80 km/h are our constant companions this week.

The reason for this can be found at a good 10 kilometers altitude. The jet stream is again over Germany. And with that, one low after the next is pushed east. This usually only works well for a few days, then the band of strong winds begins to meander at high altitude, blowing north and south and forming a wave pattern. And that has implications for the weather that follows those spikes.

The weather is still most stable in the south, and especially in the southeast. In the lee of the Alps, it mostly stays sunny and mild. You don’t actually notice anything here from the storms that are passing through in the north.

Cold shock and risk of storms at the weekend

From Saturday it will be exciting: A low pressure area is moving from the Bay of Biscay towards Central Europe. And on Sunday this low also reached Germany. On the one hand there is a risk of severe gusts of wind up to 100 km/h and a lot of rain, especially in the south. And on the other hand, there is an exchange of air masses again. Because from the north, massive cold air is sucked in again from the Iceland region.

Find out about the current weather and download the TWC app here!

And with that, the temperatures plummet. From 15 to 20 degrees it goes down to 7 to 12 degrees. Up to 15 degrees can still be reached in the south. At the beginning of the new week there will be frost or ground frost at night and in the strong north wind snow will fall again down to low altitudes.

Onset of winter with spring snow

Snow showers from the north will cover the country on Sunday and Monday. And not just a few, but many. Monday in particular will be a real snow shower day. In addition, it can also snow for a long time in the east.

The snow line falls to 0 in the north and to around 600 meters in the south. In the Alps and also in the Ore Mountains, there are longer periods of congestion. In the Alps there is up to 15 centimeters of fresh snow at higher altitudes.

Sunday will be an uncomfortable day with wind, rain, sleet and falling temperatures.

Snow melts in the March sun

While this all sounds very wintry now, apart from the higher elevations of the Alps, the snow melts away almost immediately. It can get slick and slippery on the roads, but it’s more like spring snow that the March sun quickly wipes away.

Nevertheless, it gets cold in places. Temperatures are a good 4 degrees below normal at the beginning of the week.

However, the onset of winter will probably only last a short time, because it should be warmer again by the middle of the week.

The winter isn’t quite letting go of us yet and it’s not impossible that such brief onsets of winter will still be waiting for us in April.