The May mini-heatwave which has hit mainland Europe is about to come to an end, with thunderstorms forecast across the continent. After a week when the mercury toed 30C, heavy rain is on its way to countries such as Germany and France.
Tomorrow (Friday) will see unsettled conditions begin in Germany, with humidity having the way for the forecast thunderstorms. The remainder of this evening (Thursday) sees high humidity and thunderstorms from Belgium move into the northwest, before the weather settles.
This afternoon gusts of more than 65 miles per hour were recorded at the Münster-Osnabrück weather station, the German Weather Service (DWD) said. On Friday afternoon, temperatures will continue to reach sweltering highs of 32C, before thunderstorms begin in the Black Forest, the Swabian Alb and the Alps, reports the Express.
Storms are set to develop from the Rhineland to East Frisia around 5pm. A line of severe thunderstorms is forecast to form, with hail and gusts up to 62 miles per hour.
Heavy rain is also forecast by the outlet, which has warned of rainfall of as much as 30 litres per hour and square metre possible. A DWD meteorologist told thelocal.de the highest warning level (level 4) is likely to be declared in many places.
The forecaster said: “This means that there is a threat of massive damage where the thunderstorm moves.”
So-called supercells, which are also referred to as “rotating thunderstorms”, may also form. The thunderstorms will then move into the centre of Germany and reach a strip from Hamburg to Kassel at around 9 pm.
At night, the thunderstorms will remain active and move further east. Rain will also fall in Berlin and Mecklenburg during the night.
Jan Schenk, meteorologist for The Weather Channel, explained to outlet focus.de Germany is seeing thunderstorms due to the extreme humidity.
He told the website: “It gets hot, it gets humid, and then the first thunderstorms arrive on Thursday afternoon. They form in lines. There is hail, there are storm squalls and heavy rain.
“And in the evening they intensify, especially in the south, and the danger of tornadoes increases. That alone is a stormy day, but it's nothing compared to Friday, and I'm serious.
“Because: On Friday, a lot of moisture will arrive in Germany and then we will see a first line of heavy rain moving across the country from noon onwards and then the thunderstorms will come in the late afternoon, in the evening and these will be heavy thunderstorms. There are supercells with them, the heaviest thunderstorms that we actually only know from North America move across the country.
“The Lower Rhine is affected, Emsland, Muenster, later Hamburg and Hanover and in the late evening the whole thing moves, this thunderstorm cluster then also moves again in the direction of Berlin. So please be careful, the danger of tornadoes is high, there will be extremely heavy rain of up to 100 litres per square metre. And gales of up to 120km/h and, as I said, tornadoes cannot be ruled out.”
Tyler Roys and Alan Reppert, Accuweather Senior Meteorologists, said on the forecaster's website they believe that this summer could be hotter than normal for most of the continent. Mr Roys said an upper-level ridge, which promotes dry, warm weather, will be "a large player" in the weather pattern over Europe throughout the summer months.
He added: “The threat for wildfires might take longer to develop in parts of southern France and southern Germany just because of how much precipitation has fallen this past winter into early spring. There's going to be periods where there's heat that could be intense at times. And then when that's not happening, there's going to be the [chance] for storms."
In the UK, Terry Scholey, Netweather.tv forecaster, said Friday “should begin dry with some sunshine, although cloud will tend to increase from the West, bringing a shower risk later”.
He said: “Northern Ireland sees rain clearing to scattered showers, while Scotland and much of the West see showery rain moving in from the West, some of which could be heavy. Across Norfolk, Suffolk and the South East, although bright at times, from first thing you'll be subject to showers or even longer spells of rain, that could locally be heavy and thundery, although not everywhere will see these in a mixed day generally.”
This weekend sees “some warm sunny spells, particularly to the East and South on Saturday”.
He added: “But the trend will be for showers initially in the North and West to spread to most parts. It'll also be turning cooler, particularly into the early part of next week.”
