Bavaria records unprecedented heat during dry summer

Bavaria recorded heat records in all seven administrative districts during the summer of 2026, while rainfall was about 32 percent below the long-term average, BR reported on Tuesday. The state’s Environment Agency said the number of hot days was the highest since systematic records began.

From June to August, Bavaria’s average temperature was around 20 degrees Celsius, matching the record summer of 2003. The summer average exceeded the previous regional record from 2003 in Swabia, Upper Bavaria and Lower Bavaria.

Bavaria recorded an average of more than 26 hot days with temperatures above 30 degrees. It also recorded six very hot days with temperatures above 35 degrees. The highest temperatures were measured on June 26 and 27 in Kitzingen, in Lower Franconia, when thermometers reached 40.8 degrees on both days. It was the first time temperatures in Bavaria exceeded 40 degrees.

Lower Franconia was the warmest administrative district, with 31 hot days. Only the relatively high-altitude Upper Franconia recorded fewer than 20 hot days.

Rainfall from June to August was around 32 percent below the average for the 1971 to 2000 reference period. The summer ranked among the nine driest in Bavaria since rainfall records began in 1931. Swabia recorded the largest shortfall, at 37 percent, followed by Upper Bavaria and Lower Franconia, each at 36 percent. Upper Franconia had the smallest deficit, at 18 percent. None of the districts set a new rainfall-deficit record.

Ralph Neumeier, vice president of the Bavarian Environment Agency, said several dry years were combining. Bavaria was already too dry in 2025, he said, while dry years had become more frequent since the 2010s. Observations showed increasing heat stress, less summer rainfall and longer dry periods.

Neumeier said the combination of prolonged lack of rain and high temperatures increased evaporation, dried out soils and lowered water levels. The Environment Agency said active climate protection could significantly limit the expected effects by the end of the century, while adaptation to current and future extremes was also necessary.