Recently I visited Black Forest and the picture I uploaded is from south of the Germany. Usually, by now, we’re complaining about the endless rain or scraping ice off windshields every morning. But the first half of December 2025 felt more like late March or April. The vibe is just weird. People are happy about the lower heating bills, obviously, but there’s this underlying "climate anxiety" in every conversation, because we all know it shouldn't be this nice. We did get that sharp drop right around Christmas where it finally felt like winter for about 48 hour grey, freezing, and miserable but the rest of the month has been historically, disturbingly warm. Hope this is not new normal of German winters.

  • 'happy for saving on heating bills' - swabians in their habitat.

    no swabians around the black forest mate

    That's something only swabians would say. I don't fall for your tag. /s

    I know plenty of swabians that live in the Black Forrest

    Who tf r swabians?

    How dare you

    Im complimenting

    People from the german region of Swabia. It's mostly to the south of Franconia.

    And again it‘s mostly south of Franconia when you include Hohenlohe

    No.

    Nooo just 80% of it…

    Feels like a small kingdome from the movie shrek

    He said "visited" and they arent that far away from the black forest.

    There are swabian parts of the black forest in the north. I know that's hard to imagine for some people but thats what it is

    Why do you think that?

    Saxxons going to be like "they find a way to steal our money elsewhere!!!!1!!!"

  • Hottest December so far ;)

    Not to mention, this will be the coldest December from now on. 

    On the other hand, maybe things will get cooler when the gulf stream collapses

    That won’t start to have effects before the 2070s, assuming the strengthening Agulhas current doesn’t cause the opposite effect 🫠

    Next year will be the coldest December from now on.

    Ah yes, in the near future we get Miami summer feeling at Christmas and literally Doom feeling in actual summer.

    About 10 years ago we had better weather in Freiburg than in Brisbane on christmas day

    Not to acshually, but if trends continue and the AMOC changes course, Europe is projected to get much much colder for a very long time before it gets warm.

    Hot water coming up from the south is what makes Europe so much more temperate than other places at its latitude.

    and the coolest one ever to come.

  • This is not the new normal, this is the intermediate situation before it gets worse. 

  • Growing up through the 90s, i can say that winters were EXTREMELY cold.

    Every year we had at least 30cm snow lying around. I remember that, because I was struggling to walk on places no one else had been before.

    Not just a day or two. Weeks and months.

    Since around 2010, maybe earlier, it’s been the quite opposite.

    Less and less cold weather and snow all around. The past 10 years we barely got any snow down here.

    As a kid, proportionally you would start to struggle with much less snow already.

    What city/region?

    Good old Franconia

    > Growing up through the 90s, i can say that winters were EXTREMELY cold.

    Funny, I made the exactly inverse experience. Incidentally in the Black Forest, which was very warm in winter.

    It's as if anecdotal evidence is worthless or something.

  • I am living near Cologne in the countryside and we haven't had snow for three years. Ten years ago we had snow every now and then. Not every year but almost.

    Edit: It was three years, not two.

  • Hottest since 2000 until Christmas and after that it is on the colder side

  • I saw a cherry tree blooming on the first day of Christmas sooo

  • I can’t speak for the 80s or 90s where I’m sure it was colder in general. But winter has always been cyclical here for a while. In Bavaria, we hit -9 in November and then in December start, we had warm spells but by around Christmas time, it got colder and we had a white Christmas in what feels like ages. (White Christmas Eve but close enough). 2022 Christmas on the other hand was way warmer than usual. I will say that the amount of snowy days has been less than usual.

    I remember being able to build snowmen in April not even 15 years ago. My mother had winters in the 80s where snow was hip-high or higher.

    I also remember insects actually being outside. Just the lack of butterflies alone feels like a crime. I remember whole swarms back in 2012, now the last one I remember seeing was back in 2020. A single one.

    You can do a lot to attract insects if you own a garden or have a balcony ◡̈

    I have a massive garden thanks to my parents, with a field literally right across the street. My garden had 3 fruit trees before two of them had to be cut down a few years back, and we have about 20 different kinds of flowers (not counting all the ones growing on the lawn every year, which we do not cut during that time, and not to mention the other plants).

    The neighbours around me all have similar gardens as well, with 5 trees in the immidate vicinity (a <1 minute walk) having hundreds of flowers each for the past 80 years or so they have been here (from all I know). Both me and my neighbours have tons of opportunities for insects to hide and nest, not counting the opportunities on the field with dead tree stumps and piles of wood thag hasn't been moved in the past 4 years.

    What I am trying to say is: It's not a lack of motivation or trying, but just insects dying out. Climate change and pesticides together have absolutely ruined their populations, and I don't even remember any pesticides getting used in my area as long as I have been able to recall, due to none of the agricultural land here requiring those (not counting natural ones like chicken or non-harmful ones like fly nets).

    Best I have seen here in the past years are a few bees and wasps a day, maybe 10 ladybugs total, a few ants, and maybe 30 small snails here and there. The rest is dead, and planting 10000 more plants in my area will not change that. The only people that have the power to change it don't give a damn about it, because not doing shit is more profitable short-term

    If I am thinking back to driving my car in summer it would be absolutely littered in dead insects after driving a prolonged time. Do that 30mio times a day for all the people driving around and I wonder if it also makes a dent over the long run. Now, not so much anymore.

    Plenty of wasps and bees though.

    Central Germany too. First snowfall in November. Then again in January-February

    Oh wow, I live around Frankfurt and it didn't snow at all here....

    It did snow here in November, it just didn't stick.

    In Munich we had first snowfall in November and had 3 times already this year but overall not so much. Last year was crazy much snow though.

    Göttingen got a dusting of snow in November.

    In Berlin the last white Christmas i remember was 2010 and since then always rainy and cold, but December as a whole was even warmer this year.

    Weather is very variable, this is not common knowledge these days

    Wondering, when was the last day of full raining in your place?

    I think it was around the second week of December.

  • Hope this is not new normal of German winters.

    It already has been the new normal for for some years. And it's old news for everyone that paid attention.

    My region had ~80+ days of frost from 1950-1990 per winter season.

    Currently the average number is around ~50+ days.

    And the number is sinking rapidly.

  • I see the climate change deniers are out in full force.

    „But it’s cold now, how can there be climate change?“ I hear so often that by now I don’t have much energy to explain what climate really is

    Out of interest, how do you explain the decline in the quality of snow for the skiers. I have been skiing for more than 50 years, this is the worst winter ever, similar as 2025, 2024 and so on. The last good winter was more than 10 years ago. Or look at the glaciers, Hintertuxer was a 365 days Skiing area. I was there in June 23 and it was devastating. And since 2024, Hintertux doesn't do summer skiing anymore. Or look at the Zugspitze, the season used to start on the 1st of November and it was on until White Sunday. Now you can be glad if there is snow by December and end of season is May 1st nowadays. I think it's safe to say, this is officialy climate change what we see here, not just Weather.

    Edit: now after rereading the comment, it looks like we have the same position. Sorry for the tone.

    Not a denier but I believe their position is not that climate change isn’t happening. A simple thermometer is all you need to dispel that. Their position is that humanity’s hand in climate change is either overstated or fabricated altogether. They point to historical periods of heating to make this claim.

    Of course, when you consider the rate at which the earth is warming, coupled by the countless scientific studies on the effects of greenhouse gases on the environment and their growing presence in our atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the link is undeniable to anyone with a brain. Add to that the increase in extreme, dangerous and costly weather patterns taking place, which align perfectly with what was predicted, anyone currently in the climate denial camp is just a contrarian child in an adult’s body.

    Yeah to clear it up I meant that people talk about weather and think that is climate and I don’t have the energy to explain that climate is a much larger concept than just cold or hot. (And the climate change IS real, I’m 22 years old and can already feel the world changing in comparison to my childhood and to be honest I’m afraid of what’s to come)

  • "At least there is no snow stopping me to go to work"

    Sure thing Günter, but I don't think your children and grandchildren (will) appreciate that, especially not when they have to suffer through >40° summers in the future. But sure, please continue using your oil heating system and keep building coal power plants.

    Not that the people who caused it will be there to reap the consequences.

  • Just posting some facts here since there are fights in the comments :-)

    December is not over yet, so there is no definitive answer yet on whether OP is correct or not.

    However, it looks like OP is not correct. But he is also not far off! This December is definitely one of the warmer ones.

    Mid-month, it looked like December could be the second-warmest December of all time in Germany. However, it got much colder now.

    In general, 2025 is set to be the third-warmest year globally (while the first and second warmest years were 2023 and 2024). So there is a clear trend.

    Actually, it is pretty drastic. Not just globally, but also in Germany. Looking at the data from Munich in December, we can see the following:

    - Average last 30 years: -0.13 celsius

    - Average last 10 years: 0.52 celsius

    - Average last 5 years: 1.06 celsius

    When looking at the average maximum temperatures in December in Munich, it is even more extreme:

    - Average max last 30 years: 10.90

    - Average max last 10 years: 12.42

    - Average max last 5 years: 14.22

    And now you know why there is almost no snow anymore. Especially compared to the past. And it will continue like this. If no other tipping point turns it around, it will become warmer and warmer and warmer.

    Looking at Italy and Spain, which face increasingly severe droughts every year, water scarcity will most likely become a large-scale problem for Germany in the future as well.

    Or look to the Netherlands. The Elfstedentocht is the biggest sporting event there. It is more important than football, speed skating and hockey combined. But the last time it happened was 1997 and it probalby won't take place in the Netherlands again, because winters just aren't cold enough anymore.

  • "We Are Now In The 'Rearranging Deck Chairs On The Titanic' Stage Of Humanity!"

  • If this is the hottest, i don’t wanna know feel the coldest 😅 I live in Nürnberg, close.. and it is prety cold at least for a guy from Portugal

  • Source: made it up.

    December is not over yet, so there is no definitive answer yet.

    And it looks like OP is not correct. However, he is also not far off!

    Mid-month, it looked like December could be the second-warmest December of all time in Germany. However, it got much colder now.

    In general, 2025 is set to become the third-warmest year globally (while the first and second warmest years were 2023 and 2024). So there is a clear trend.

    Actually, it is pretty drastic. Not just globally, but also in Germany. Looking at the data from Munich in December, we can see the following:

    - Average last 30 years: -0.13 celsius

    - Average last 10 years: 0.52 celsius

    - Average last 5 years: 1.06 celsius

    When looking at the average maximum temperaturs in December in Munich, it is even more extreme:

    - Average max last 30 years: 10.90

    - Average max last 10 years: 12.42

    - Average max last 5 years: 14.22

    And now you know you can see why there is almost no snow anymore. Especially compared to the past.

    Middle Germany

    For two days of 31. But never let the truth get in the way of a loud opinion. 

    Truth? Loud opinion? I‘m just pointing out that the linked article is about middle Germany not Germany in general

    I agree with you, and support your argument over the previous poster

    Oh sorry thought you meant me

    No worries, I’m also usually on the defensive when posting about climate change

  • The worst December in my life. In my 39 years, I have never experienced such a sunny December, with the temperatures we've had here. It literally depresses me to see such bright sunlight around Christmas time. We literally had maybe one day of clouds in the entire month. Ridiculous.

    My SAD not being as fucked because of the sun is directly cancelled out by the despair over the climate.

    Yay!

  • For me "climate anxiety" arrives if January and February aren't freezing cold or March and April. Not recording it, but the seasons seems to move by 1-2 months compared to 3 decades ago. But yea I remembered when the kids build an igloo and proud snowmen in the front yard.

  • New Year's Eve 2022 had record temperatures, daily highs between 17°C and 21°C throughout Germany.

    The warmest December so far was 2015 with an average of 6,49°C. That's average over the whole country, not average daily highs.

  • You sure you live in Germany?

  • I was skiing today. It was in Austria but close enough. I can confirm, this is pre apocalyptic. There is literally no natural Snow in the Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser. I saw some natural Snow in the beginning of the month but that is gone. And I saw thermometers indicating that it was above 10 degrees.

  • Sorry, but this can‘t be real. Politicians say climate change isn’t real, so this has to be fake news 🥴💪😼

  • I remember a Christmas when I dragged my suitcase through knee hight snow in the east and arrived 4 hours later to 10 degrees in Western Germany.

    pretty sure it is not the hottest December - 2 years ago I was learning for an exam, and did it on the balkony (exam was on 2. January, learning was from the 27.12. to the exam). 4 years ago we were bbqing in DE garden of my sister for Christmas.

    the last 5 years have been wild (and mild regarding the weather)

  • This is not correct, we haven not had a colder December since 2013.

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  • What does "so far" mean?

  • Wassent Last year q17 degres about new near? Was in Berlin and Here was -11°C

  • Global warming comming to town Baby~~

  • Surprised to hear that. I feel like there have been plenty of warmer ones. I remember 15 degrees on Christmas Day in Munich!

  • Gorgeous nature

  • Don't worry, as soon as the AMOC collapses, we'll have cold Decembers again.

  • Ehh, I live about 45 minutes outside of Stuttgart and definitely have to scrape ice off my car and it's minus 4 right now.

  • Actually it is the coldest December since 2010…

  • The future climate is not just warmer, it is just less reliable.

  • What perfection

  • Honestly, living by the Black Forest since 15 years now, and this December has 100% been colder than in years past.

    Who's saying that it's been warmer?

  • This year we had the first white Christmas since 2010. Was a nice surprise

  • lol... you are psychotic

  • Well, last couple of days were pretty chilly.

  • Hottest December in Germany so far.

  • Wow! Greatest forest view

  • Winter is cancelled.

  • It was quite cold in Munich this Christmas. We even got snow on Christmas eve

  • Ich schreib auf deutsch weil mein Englisch... Ihr wisst es.

    Ich wohne in Rheinland Pfalz und es ist die meiste Zeit sehr kalt (Für unsere Gegend) Die letzten Tage um die 3°C tagsüber und nachts Minusgrade. Den Rest des Dezembers wird es ähnlich aussehen und die höchste Temperatur an die ich mich erinnern kann waren um die 8°C. Meines Empfindens nach ist dieser Dezember kälter als die Jahre davor. Ich kann mich an einen 24. erinnern an dem wir 20°C hatten. Schnee hatten wir trotzdem nicht dazu müsste es noch kälter sein. Kann sein dass es in anderen Teilen Deutschlands deutlich wärmer ist aber ansonsten kenne ich das eher für Süddeutschland.

  • I live in the same area and it's cold as in the years before. We even had snow in November.

    So yeah, I guess this is just your feeling.

  • And how hot was it , me in the south of Germany today I have only seen 1.5degrees outside .

    It was 0°C today in Munich

    And -2 deg right now in Nürnberg

    It was quite warm on the mountains. The sky was blue and the temperature on the High Salve was around 10 degrees. That mountain is about 20 km away from the German border and like 70 km away from Munich.

  • I grew up in the Black Forest. When I was a kid we had 60-100cm snow sometimes. Now nothing - maybe 10-20 cm for a few days every 2 years.

    No climate anxiety though.

  • It’s nothing too unusual. I remember one Christmas in Freiburg maybe, errmm, 12-15 years ago perhaps where it was 20+ degrees on Christmas Day. My (now) wife and I took photos of ourselves having tropical cocktails to mark the occasion. 

    But I also can remember some deeper snow in the city, and of course at higher altitudes or shadier valleys.

    I mean, of course it’s not like it was 100 years ago, we are definitely cooking the planet... but this is after all the warmest and sunniest corner of Germany, and Decembers are usually not that cold. Be glad for the sun!

  • They said today in the news that this was the coldest Christmas in 15 years, so not sure about it being the hottest December overall…

  • it was like -7°C the past few days

    There are 31 days in December

  • I literally sat in the snow yesterday

    There isn't much of it around.

    It has certainly been cold the last few days, but very dry. There was a dusting of flakes the other day, but that really was just a few mm.

    Currently at 900m in the Black Forest and there are lots of grassy meadows with Loipen signs.

    The Feldberg is almost entirely just covered in grass at the moment. Looking at the webcams there is one tiny piste open with artificial snow and otherwise it is basically grassy meadows.

    So it was -1C?

  • The earth is undergoing a warming phase right now. We had a little ice age in the last millennium and now we are now heading towards a normal warming phase. Expect warmer winters and wetter summers.

  • I don't deny that winters are getting warmer on average, but this post is a bit misleading. I have scraped ice multiple times in the past weeks. I also remember Christmases where we had 10°+ instead of around 0, and a rise of temperatures around Chrismas time is actually common around here (nothern Black Forest). So no, it's not disturbing so far. I find it much more worrysome when plants begin to get their leaves in February. These early warm days have killed garden plants several years in a row now.

  • Well, here in the Lower Rhine Region, winter usually means 3 months without sun, just greyness and 5°-10° and light rain. We have had way more sun this december and I very much appreciated it. Also, for the first two weeks of January '26, there seems to come some real winter weather with lots of snow and cold for most parts of Germany.

  • No, it's not. At least from my side in Germany. I am in lower saxonny, and it has been freezing cold all week long. Real feel -17° on boxing day.

  • 2010 Berlin -25C. My ⚽⚽ were freezing. We just got over solar maximum. Cooler winters are soon to come. Also, we've been in a warming period for the past 15k and most of what we consider civilization happened since then. Relax and enjoy a warmer climate. Ignore the fear mongering, enjoy life, have as many kids as possible and stick it to the man!

    This century, due to finite natural resource limits and decline from a general peak of extraction, including all resources used for "green transition", the elaborate, covert, multigenerational plan is to downsize the global economy and population to a tiny fraction of their former size

  • Ever? In 6 billion years? Really?

    That’s older than the earth itself!

  • There is no such thing as climate anxiety, and you just live 50 years in this planet and you want to judge the climate, which is a circle, periods of ice and heat. Stop the propaganda BS

  • That+s a LIE ! stop bullshitting !

  • Just coz you see no snow does not mean it's not cold dude, go outside it is hella cold and wind will bite ya

  • Unpopular opinion: as a foreigner I fucking Love it if the winter are a bit less miserable

  • Hope it is the new norm, and that it continues to change.

  • People just complain all the time man just go sit on a piece of ice