Extreme heat claims swimmers’ lives as trains halt

Germany’s heat wave has pushed people into lakes and rivers—where at least seven swimmers died over the weekend—while elsewhere melted asphalt forced Leipzig to halt tram services and extreme heat warnings remain in place.

By the time the day warmed into a scorch, many people in Germany turned to water for relief. It was a familiar instinct in an unfamiliar heat: lakes and rivers offering a quick escape from the rising temperatures.

Instead, the weekend brought repeated drownings.

In Berlin, police said two people died in separate swimming accidents. A 42-year-old man was found in the Jungfernheideteich man-made lake in western Berlin, while a 51-year-old man was found at the Tempelhofer urban harbor.

Further south, a 27-year-old man drowned in the Neckar River near the city of Heidelberg, and a 30-year-old man died in a lake near Mannheim.

A child was also reported missing in the Rhine-Herne Canal in western Germany.

In Hesse, the body of a 40-year-old man was found from a lake near the financial capital Frankfurt. In North Rhine-Westphalia—the most populous German state—a 45-year-old man was found in a lake near Dortmund. Northward near Hanover, an 8-year-old was found in a lake.

At Lake Constance, near the border with Switzerland and Austria, the bodies of two elderly swimmers were recovered on Friday. They had disappeared a day earlier after jumping from a rental boat.

The dangers weren’t confined to water.

In Leipzig. no trams were set to run until early on Monday morning after the soaring temperatures melted asphalt and damaged tracks and points in multiple locations across the city. The Leipzig Transport Authority (LVB) initially suspended services until late on Saturday night, but extended the stoppage throughout the weekend.

The problem. the transport authority said. was tied to how heat affects the joint sealant used for asphalt and concrete in points and tracks—causing it to run and clump together. The company said it was not currently safe for trains to operate. Buses were still running largely according to schedule in Leipzig. a city of well over half a million people southwest of Berlin.

Even as some forecasts point toward change, the heat has not eased its grip.

The German Weather Service (DWD) issued extreme heat warnings for the vast majority of the country again on Sunday. In its Sunday morning update. the DWD wrote that the focal point of the heat was gradually moving eastwards. warning of a strong to extreme heat burden in almost all parts of the country because of only slight overnight cooling and high humidity.

Extreme heat warning were in place nationwide on Sunday morning except for the northern, western and southern extremities. Most other areas faced high heat warnings or the threat of thunderstorms.

The DWD also forecast severe thunderstorms. sudden heavy rain and high winds in parts of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday morning. and said localized storms were possible above all in the eastern half of the country but also in the west. Storm fronts were expected to move in from the west and southwest. breaking the worst of the high temperatures by the evening.

In Bonn, Sunday’s forecast high temperatures are several degrees cooler than in recent days at 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrneheit), while Monday’s predicted highs are down at 27 degrees Celsius.

Some political voices are already pushing for a different kind of protection as the risks keep showing up in different forms—from emergency calls near rivers to a tram network effectively frozen by heat. Katharina Dröge. the co-leader of Germany’s Greens. called for rapid installation of air conditioning units in public buildings like schools and hospitals. saying they should be powered with solar.

Dröge told the German tabloid on Sunday that Germany needs an immediate cooling-off program to air condition hospitals. care facilities. daycares and schools. She called for expanding air conditioning capacities at full speed. but also in connection with solar power units. and said her party would advocate a subsidy plan for “air conditioning solar facilities.”.

Dröge said the combination makes most sense because the heat by day comes with high solar radiation and therefore high solar output. She pointed out that Germany—traditionally not known as the sunniest country all year round—has put more resources into wind power than solar. with wind accounting for roughly twice as much power generation as solar.

She also advocated using a part of the German government’s so-called special fund for longer-term infrastructure projects, or Sondervermögen, for this purpose, arguing these funds are not subject to some more restrictive standard budget rules.

For now. the weekend’s pattern is hard to miss: heat drives people toward cooling. while infrastructure and public safety respond in pieces—if at all. Swimmers still find cold water fatal. tracks still buckle under asphalt heat. and the DWD’s warnings still cover most of the map. And across Germany. the question moving from emergency calls to political arguments is becoming the same one: how do you cool a society fast enough when the weather won’t back off?.

Germany heat wave swimmers drown Leipzig trams halted Deutsche Bahn not mentioned DWD extreme heat warnings air conditioning public facilities Greens Dröge