Severe hailstorms pummeled parts of northern and western Germany, dumping tennis ball-sized hailstones that had to be cleared with front-end loaders in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The emergency dispatch center in West Mecklenburg logged roughly 168 weather-related calls within a single hour, as firefighters pumped out flooded basements and cleared downed trees. No injuries were reported. Further south in Lower Saxony, storms caused wider destruction: hail damaged hundreds of cars, shattering windows and denting hoods, while in Sarstedt, three-to-four-centimeter stones tore into rooftops. Firefighters in Lower Saxonia responded to at least 600 calls between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.
The German Weather Service warned of extreme heat across western and southern Germany, with high-temperature alerts running from Monday morning through Tuesday evening.