2013 European floods
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| Date | May–June 2013 |
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| Location | Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland |
| Deaths | 25 |
| Property damage | Overall losses €12bn (US$ 16bn) insured loss in the region of €3bn (US$ 3.9bn). |
Extreme flooding in Central Europe began after several days of heavy rain in late May and early June 2013. Flooding and damages primarily affected south and east German states (Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), western regions of the Czech Republic (Bohemia), and Austria. In addition, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belarus, Poland, Hungary and Serbia (Vojvodina) were affected to a lesser extent. The flood crest progressed down the Elbe and Danube drainage basins and tributaries, leading to high water and flooding along their banks.
The spring weather preceding the flooding had been wet in the region, and May 2013 had been one of the three wettest in the last 156 years in Austria, together with the years 1962 and 1965. Austria saw twice as much rainfall as average during the month, resulting in the ground in the region becoming saturated. Soils in Germany were showing record levels of moisture prior to the rains. The already saturated soils led to greater runoff when the rains began.
In last ten days of May a low pressure system named "Christoffer" swung up from the Mediterranean across the Black Sea then across Ukraine and Poland to Northern Germany, eventually bringing a very moist, and warm airmass to Central Europe from north-east. Late May saw a blocking high "Sabine" located over the Sole sea area to the west of the UK and France. This split the jet stream over Europe which maintained the weather pattern in Central Europe.
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