March 2026 was exceptionally sunny, mild and dry across Germany. The German Weather Service (DWD) explained that a series of high‑pressure systems dominated the weather pattern, creating a prolonged period of sunshine and warm temperatures while late‑March still bore traces of late‑winter conditions.
The monthly average temperature was 6.3 °C, which is 2.8 °C higher than the 1961‑1990 reference and 1.7 °C above the 1991‑2020 comparison period. In the first half of the month the record heat was typical for what would normally be seen only in mid‑April; the highest daily temperature reached 19.9 °C in Michelstadt, Odenwald, on 7 March. By the end of the month, north‑westerly winds brought cooler air, and a low of -15.5 °C was measured in Oberstdorf on 28 March.
Rainfall was scarce overall, concentrating mainly in the early part of the second decade of the month and at the very end. Total precipitation for March was 37 L m⁻², a drop of more than 35 % compared to the reference periods. The eastern part of the country was exceptionally dry, whereas the Black Forest and the Alpine foothills recorded between 80 and 120 L m⁻². The most intense single‑day rainfall was 35.2 L m⁻² on 25 March in Utzenfeld, South Black Forest.
Sunshine hours in March were remarkably high. The month delivered 195 h of sunshine, the most on record since March 2022 and the previous year. This surpasses the long‑term mean of 111 h (1961‑1990) by 75 % and is more than a 50 % increase over the 1991‑2020 mean of 127 h. Regional variations were minimal; only the far north and the extreme south recorded fewer than 150 h of sunshine during the month.
