Germans warned to reduce gas use amid 'coldest December in years'

Since the start of December, temperatures have dropped well into the minus digits in many regions of Germany - prompting many people to crank up the heat at home. 

But experts are urging households to be cautious with their energy usage in spite of the bitter cold. 

Speaking to ZDF's Morgenmagazin on Wednesday, Klaus Müller, the head of the Federal Network Agency (BNA), revealed that gas use had been soaring in recent days.

On Monday, he said, the reserves in Germany's gas storage facilities dropped by a full percentage point in a single day.

"That should remain an outlier," Müller warned. "Therefore, despite the cold, I would request that people be mindful with their gas consumption."

READ ALSO: Frosty roads and 'icy rain': Cold spell continues in Germany

Germany has been aiming to cut its gas use by at least 20 percent this winter amid the ongoing energy crisis.

It had managed to fill its gas storage facilities to 100 percent by mid-November after an unusually mild autumn, but the steep drop in temperatures in December has eaten into the country's reserves.

However, Müller said there was no immediate likelihood that gas would run out.

"We are very, very far away from that," said the BNA president, adding that storage facilities were still 92 percent full. "One, two, three weeks where it gets cold and we use more, we can easily handle that - but this cannot continue in January and February." 

On Friday, the initiative Energien Speichern (Saving Energy) told Tagesschau that gas shortages were "highly unlikely" this winter, but said the possibility of needing to take emergency measures couldn't be ruled out.

At the time, Germany's gas storage facilities were around 96 percent full, but a spike in usage over the past week has seen this drop by a full four percent. 

Currently, the 14 gas tanks contain enough for 227,5 million terawatt hours of energy, which equates almost exactly to the amount of gas Germany used over January and February in the first months of 2022.

With Russia stopping gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, Germany has been forced to rapidly find new ways to source fossil fuels, including pipeline deliveries from Norway and LNG terminals in the North Sea. 

However, the government is relying on gas reserves as a buffer, especially if Germany has to deliver gas to neighbouring countries who are facing winter shortages. 

'Coldest December in a decade'

Meteorologists are predicting that this month could compare to the notorious winter of 2010, when temperatures dropped well below freezing and the entire country was treated to a white Christmas.

In the first weeks of December, temperatures have dropped into the minus double-digits in many regions and huge swathes of the country - including the normally mild western states - have seen a heavy covering of snow.

So far, it's unclear if this cold spell will continue into 2023. Early forecasts predicted a frosty December and a relatively mild January and February, but more recent forecasts have suggested that the icy temperatures could carry over into the first weeks of the new year.

Meteorologists say that, despite the chill in the air, January looks set to be dry, while February will bring some rainstorms with it in time for spring. 

READ ALSO: Europe set for unusually warm winter but faces cold blast in December