GERMANY-WEATHER Sunseekers enjoy the last day of the current heat-wave while farmers and fire-wardens bemoan the temperatures

Record ID: 143877

  • Title: GERMANY-WEATHER Sunseekers enjoy the last day of the current heat-wave while farmers and fire-wardens bemoan the temperatures
  • Date: 14th August 2015
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF ONE OF SIX FOREST FIRE PREVENTION OFFICES OF STATES OF BRANDENBURG
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7PYICQQMORDLDUDLPGRWO5D3M
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents of Berlin enjoyed possibly the last day of an extreme heat-wave in and around one of Berlin's lakes. Temperatures above 30 degrees saw a hustle and bustle at Berlin's Orankesee (Oranke lake) public bathing beach. Sun seekers enjoyed the rays, cooling down occasionally with a dip in the - fairly - cool waters, or a trip to the most sought after place on the day, the ice-cream shop.
    But one man's pleasure is another man's plight, and farmers in Germany all but bemoaned the high temperatures. The heat and the lack of rain lead to the fields being dry and hard, with crops drying up.
    Even though the grain harvest is over, the ground needs to be already prepared for the next season, as farmer Heiko Terno told Reuters TV. But with hard, dried up earth that is not possible as farming machines cannot penetrate it.
    An additional worry for Terno is the fact that heat rendered his corn plants useless and he is losing feed for his cattle for the winter, as well as money from lost biogas plants.
    "These plants are actually lost, even if it rained now," he told Reuters TV. "And no matter whether we use it in cattle-feed or in the biogas plant, there is no energy in them. And that is a loss for us. We have to harvest the fields and end up with worthless feed."
    The hot temperatures are also anything but relaxing for the forest fire prevention officer for the state of Brandenburg, Raimund Engel. He is working around the clock these days, checking temperatures and wind strength and directions.
    Most of Brandenburg is on fire danger level 4, some parts even on danger level 5, the highest in fire prevention.
    Cameras monitor tree tops from various watch towers, dotted around Brandenburg's countryside.
    "Those 108 cameras that we have in the state of Brandenburg record pictures in 360 degrees, and those images are sent to one of the six forest fire prevention offices in Brandenburg where they are being assessed. And if they see indeed a smoke cloud that proves to be a fire, then they'll call immediately the fire department," Engel told Reuters TV.
    But the cameras can only see a cloud of smoke if it rises above the tree tops and residents are also asked to keep their eyes open and follow basic simple fire prevention rules.
    90 percent of fires are man-made, Engel told Reuters and the number one culprit are carelessly discarded cigarette butts, but also camp fires and cars being parked near or in forests.
    The German weather service (DWD) forecasts an end to the extreme heat-wave with thunderstorms and heavy rains for the coming days. A low pressure area has formed over France and its extension has already reached parts of Germany. Storms are expected to unleash on Friday evening and Saturday (August 15) morning in the west.
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