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Sunny and dry: Germany records hottest April ever

The Local Germany
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Sunny and dry: Germany records hottest April ever
A film festival in Stuttgart in late April 2018. Photo: DPA

Deutschland last month saw the highest average temperatures ever recorded for the month of April, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

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Last month was the warmest April since weather records began well over a century ago in 1881, the DWD reported on Monday.

The average temperature throughout Germany last month was 12.4C - that is a whole 5C higher than the April value from the internationally valid comparison period from 1961-1990 and 4C above a later reference period from 1981-2010.

It was dry with above-average sunshine duration and particularly summer-like in the second half of the month, the DWD states, adding that April saw a clear lack of precipitation.

Southern regions of the country enjoyed the largest amount of sun; Bavaria tied with its neighbour Baden-Württemberg as both racked up 250 hours of sunshine.

SEE ALSO: Summer in April? Highs of up to 30C on the way for parts of Germany

Berlin stands out as the federal state which had the highest average temperature in April at 13.8C, as the Statista infographic below shows.

The German capital was followed by Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony - each with an average temperature of 13C.

The states which showed the largest deviation (5.7C) from the multi-year average were Saxony and Thuringia, respectively.

And on the other end of the scale, Schleswig-Holstein was Germany's coldest state in April with temperatures averaging just 9.9C.

In order to find the coldest ever April one would have to go way back in history, according to the DWD, as the warmest months have all been recorded in recent years. 

In the years 1903, 1917 and 1929, average temperatures of below 5C were registered. The discrepancy between these temperatures and the ones recorded nowadays can be attributed to the effects of climate change, says DWD spokesman Gerhard Lux.

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