2019 was the third warmest year on record in Germany since regular weather measurements began in 1881, Germany's national meteorological service (DWD) announced on Monday.

As was often the case in recent years, 2019 had shown above average sunshine rates as the weather in Germany had been "too dry" and "significantly too warm", DWD noted.

According to preliminary assessment from around 2,000 measuring stations, the average temperature in 2019 has been 10.2 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees above the value for the reference period between 1961 and 1990.

After 2014 and 2018, this year had been the third warmest since regular records began, "due to 11 excessively warm months and the extreme heat at the end of July" when 23 measuring stations in Germany recorded temperatures above 40 degrees, DWD noted.

The fact that nine of the ten hottest years in Germany were recorded between 2010 and 2019 clearly showed that "this is no coincidence", DWD spokesperson Andreas Friedrich told the German press agency (dpa).