Overview
- Rain swept in from the southwest on Wednesday, ending a sunny start to the week as cloud and showers spread across much of Germany and the Alps saw falling snow levels.
- The Deutscher Wetterdienst has issued regional warnings for area-wide rain and a turn toward windier conditions later in the week with the potential for strong to storm-force gusts.
- Nighttime ground frost has already been reported in low-lying areas, and the early alpine snow and lower temperatures raise risks for travel, farming and the need to protect sensitive plants.
- Forecast uncertainty centers on a Höhentief (upper-level low); ICON and GFS runs show a quicker departure while ECMWF keeps the low longer and projects higher weekly totals, for example about 40–41 liters per square metre for Cologne in one ECMWF run.
- Forecasters warn that many trees still carry leaves, which increases the chance of broken branches and fallen trees during gusty winds and could lead to localized power outages and transport delays.