Most recently, restraint was required when celebrating on New Year's Eve. This time there are no major restrictions. Many revelers are expected on an exceptionally mild night.
Düsseldorf (dpa/lnw) - After two new years with Corona measures, full inner cities in North Rhine-Westphalia are expected this New Year's Eve - it can be celebrated again without major restrictions. As usual on New Year's Eve, more police officers than usual are on duty, and some expect a "more restless turn of the year" than last.
It will be windy and record-breaking warm: According to the forecast of the German Weather Service (DWD), there will be widespread stormy gusts in NRW on the night of New Year. It will be unusually mild for the turn of the year: the temperatures should remain above ten degrees on New Year's Eve, in the Cologne-Bonn area even up to 14 degrees are possible.
In many places, the DWD is expecting the warmest New Year's day since records began. The previous highs are, for example, 15.5 degrees in Cologne, 13.7 degrees in Essen and 14.4 degrees in Münster - each recorded last year. This New Year's Eve, the DWD expects temperatures of up to 19 degrees in the Cologne-Bonn area, 17 to 18 degrees in the Ruhr area and 16 to 17 degrees in the Münsterland.
NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul said he hoped that after two years without fireworks, people would be careful "and keep their hands off illegal fireworks". That helps the police, fire brigade and rescue services. The Borken district police authority announced that, unfortunately, it is expected that some celebrations would be accompanied by violence, that irresponsible drivers would drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that people would do mischief with fireworks.
The police in the Märkisch district said they were expecting a more restless turn of the year compared to the past two years. In some large cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, no firecracker zones are set up for safety reasons on New Year's Eve. In Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bielefeld and Dortmund, for example, fireworks may only be set off outside the restricted zones at the turn of the year.
