Country Summary
This page presents high-level information for Germany's climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications are derived from the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, which divides climates into five main climate groups divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter). Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Germany's country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.
Germany is country located in Central Europe bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, between the Netherlands and Poland, south of Denmark. Germany's total area is 357,409 km2. Agricultural land (including bog and heath land) accounted for approximately 52% (184,332 km2). This means that Germany’s agricultural land area has decreased by 921 km2 since 2011. In contrast, the area under forest has increased slightly by a net 500 km2 from the 2002 level. Almost 32% of Germany was covered by forest in 2015 (114,191 km2). Of all the types of land cover in Germany, water accounts for 8,552 km2 or 2 %, which is the smallest percentage share. Compared with 2011, the area covered by water has increased by 191 km2, largely as a result of flooding and renaturing of former sand, gravel and lignite extraction sites. Germany's population is over 83 million (2020).
Timely adaptation is becoming increasingly important in Germany if it is to limit damage and risks from changes in the climate, such as rise in temperature and increase in temperature extremes, particularly in the form of more frequent heatwaves.