Severe thunderstorms threaten parts of Germany on Thursday and Friday. According to the German Weather Service (DWD), there is a high probability of an “extreme storm” with thunderstorms, hail and storms on Friday in particular.

According to a DWD meteorologist, the highest warning level (level 4) should be declared in many places. “This threatens massive damage where the thunderstorm complex stretches,” said the weather researcher in Offenbach on Thursday.

It is probable that so-called supercells are also formed – rotating systems with strong updrafts that move completely independently and are therefore difficult to predict. There are also “ideal conditions” for tornadoes.

According to the DWD, the middle of Germany in particular is affected by the storm on Friday. According to the information, exactly where the thunderstorms will discharge can only be said with certainty a few hours in advance. The DWD was already expecting the first storms in the west on Thursday, but not quite as badly as the following ones.

In the west and north-west as well as in the Black Forest and in the Alps, the DWD expects showers and thunderstorms on Thursday afternoon. There can also be storms with heavy rain of up to 40 liters per square meter, storm or hurricane gusts of up to 100 kilometers per hour and hailstones three centimeters in size.

The reason for the thunderstorms is a warm and increasingly very humid air mass coming from the west. During the day it gets muggy to hot, with temperatures of up to 27 and 32 degrees. In the southeast and east of Germany, on the other hand, it will be sunny and dry on Thursday.

According to the meteorologists, the thunderstorms will continue to spread on Friday night. In the west and southwest, renewed showers and thunderstorms are expected in some areas, in the north with individual, sometimes strong thunderstorms.

According to the DWD, the potential for severe weather in the west and north is also “significantly increased” on Friday. Towards evening, heavy thunderstorms can also be expected in the middle of Germany.

On Friday morning there will be strong thunderstorms from the northwest and west to the eastern low mountain range. Later, the thunderstorms spread and sometimes heavy rain, heavy gusts of wind to hurricanes and larger hail are expected. Only in the north and north-east and in the south of Germany is there a low chance of thunderstorms.

There will be a few showers in the south on Saturday night. On Saturday it cools down a bit and the showers and thunderstorms retreat towards the edge of the Alps.