Natural hazard portal: new warnings for your security in Germany!

Natural hazard portal: new warnings for your security in Germany!

On April 14, 2025, the German Weather Service (DWD) officially started the "natural hazard portal". This new online portal is intended to help the population in Germany to better prepare for natural hazards such as floods and storm surges. According to Feuerwehrmagazin , the development of the portal was strongly influenced by the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, in particular by the devastating flood in the Ahrtal in 2021.

Prof. Dr. Sarah Jones, President of the DWD, emphasizes the importance of understandable warnings. This is crucial to enable citizens to provide effective measures to prevent danger. The natural hazard portal bundles information and warnings from various institutions to comprehensively inform the public.

content and functions of the natural hazard portal

The first expansion stage of the portal offers a variety of warnings that are relevant for all federal states. These include:

• Weather dangers of the DWD, like thunderstorms, heavy rain and heat
• flood warnings over the cross -border flood portal (LHP)
• storm flood warnings of the Federal Office for Sea shipping and hydrography (BSH)
• Warnings of population protection on the modular warning system (Mowas)

The current focus is on weather and hydrological dangers. In addition, the portal is to be expanded to include further specific natural hazards, including ozone pollution, forest fires, drought, avalanches and earthquakes. The website is bilingual and does not require registration, which enables barrier -free access.

technical details and usage options

The natural hazard portal not only offers current warnings, but also scientific analyzes, assessments of danger and practical recommendations for action for different phases of a risk of natural. An interactive card represents current warnings in four dyes. Citizens have the opportunity to call up specific data for their places of residence. Push warnings are sent to the users via the modular warning system (Mowas) to inform them promptly about dangers.

Federal Digital Minister Volker Wissing emphasized the precise risk analysis for individual locations and noted that the information is provided in a uniform format. No app is currently planned for the portal, but partial data is already accessible via the DWD app, which should offer the citizens additional information and support.

The data for the natural hazard portal come from various specialist authorities at the federal and state levels, including the weather reports of the DWD and flood warnings. Ten federal states have agreed in an agreement to supply the DWD with local data, whereby Berlin, Brandenburg and Bavaria are currently not participating in this agreement. However, Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia prepare their accession to further strengthen the information basis.

The year 2024 was according to ZDF The warmest since the beginning of the weather records in Germany, which is 0.3 degrees in comparison to the previous year. In view of these developments, the need for such information portals is becoming increasingly pressing in order to effectively protect the population and prepare for the challenges of climate change.