My Perception

 1.  AC chatter.  We used to have a yearly program in the Air Force....called the 'one-hundred days of summer'....which the base safety officer was supposed to be hyped up and preventing chaos, injury, or death.

The safety officer was always a pilot....for which this was his additional duty, and 75-percent of his yearly evaluation.  I worked in a office with the guy who got stuck into the duty for a year.

Dehydration tips were almost a weekly thing.  At various staff meetings at the wing-level, the squadron-level, and division-level...it got hyped-up and made a big issue.

I look at the heat-wave business of Germany for 2026 and will admit....it was extremely hot for about 30 days this summer (probably 12 more than normal).  Having ten of these in a consecutive fashion?  Yeah...that probably was a big problem.

Would I go and buy a AC unit to chill the whole house (for 4,500 Euro)?  No.  I might have taken 2,000 Euro for a Finland arctic circle trip for 3 weeks.

2.  Natural gas shortage?

Ever since the war (Ukraine-Russia) started up.....German purchase of Russian natural gas has been zero.  For the most part....they buy via a ship deal....having loads delivered and stored in tanks.  

Present level?  They were supposed to have 80-percent of what we needed for a average winter.....by 1 November.  By present count....they won't pass the 70-percent point, and there's some belief that we might not pass the 65-percent point.  

If this were a 5-star extreme winter?  Well....come early January....we'd probably get some warning to lower thermostats to around 17 C (62 F).

This discussion making people skeptical?  I would suggest that most Germans believe there's always going enough natural gas, and when this fails.....'trust' will spiral out of control.

3.  German border controls....extended?

The order went out yesterday....these border-guards (really police on deployed duty) and checking folks as they enter Germany....will continue onto March 2027.  

The odds that it is extended to the end of 2027?  I'd say better than 90-percent chance.