BERLIN, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Extremely high temperatures, the absence of rainfall and continued sunshine dominated the summer of 2018 in Germany, the German weather service (DWD) announced at the presentation of its preliminary summer report on Thursday.
This summer was the second hottest since records began in 1881, with a nationwide average temperature of 19.3 degrees Celsius. Solely in 2003 the temperatures reached even higher values with an average of 19.7 degrees Celsius.
On average, 130 liters of rain per square meter fell in the summer of 2018 in Germany, merely 54 percent of normal levels. Only the summer of 1911 with 124 liters per square meter would have been drier, DFD explained.
The summer of 2018 was one of the three sunniest since the beginning of measurements in 1951 with about 770 hours of sunshine on average. The sunniest place in Germany during summer was the island Ruegen in the Baltic sea with more than 900 hours of sunshine.
Losses in earnings in agriculture due to drought damage and the risk of forest fires were one of the results of this summer. Even the German astronaut Alexander Gerst was shocked when he saw Germany from space. "Everything is dried up and brown, which should actually be green," said the commander of the ISS in early August.
