Key events

Four women, one man dead after shooting in Stade, police says

We are now getting a bit more detail on the incident from the police.

Shots were fired at the facility just after midday, triggering a brief car chase before police stopped the suspect and a second person accompanying him, with local media reporting unofficially that they are a man and a woman, both 21-year-old.

A police spokesperson declined to speculate on a motive behind the attack.

Among the five dead, there are four women and one man. There is no update on the injured.

A forensic police officer with a camera works near the scene where five people were killed in a shooting in Stade, northern Germany. Photograph: Ibrahim Ot/AFP/Getty Images

More details are expected to be released at a later press conference scheduled for 7.30pm local time (6.30pm UK).

A new police statement released in the last few minutes does not offer much beyond what we already know.

“The area is cordoned off, and a large police presence is on site. There is no danger to the public. We ask that you keep the area clear for emergency personnel. Further information will be provided regularly as the situation develops.”

We are expecting to hear from the city authorities at some point later today, as police officers piece together what happened in Stade.

Police and rescue personnel work at the scene of Stade shooting in Germany - in pictures

Emergency responders and forensic investigators in Stade, Germany. Photograph: Fabian Höfig/DPA/AP

Police and rescue personnel work near the scene where five people were killed in a shooting in Stade, northern Germany. Photograph: Ibrahim Ot/AFP/Getty Images

A member of emergency services works at the scene of what the police said was a deadly shooting in the town of Stade, Germany. Photograph: NEWS5/Reuters

Some injured 'seriously' and death toll could rise, police suggest

Some of those caught up in the shooting were “seriously” injured, a police spokesperson told the German news agency dpa, NTV and HAZ reported.

Local police warns against misinformation, unconfirmed reports on social media

Local police in Stade have warned against “unconfirmed information” spreading on WhatsApp groups and social media, saying these reports – without specifying what they said – “do not reflect the current officially confirmed information from the police.”

“Please do not forward unverified reports, voice messages, or rumors. This can cause confusion and hinder police operations,” it added.

Five dead, with more injured after shooting in Stade, northern Germany - what do we know

• Five people have been killed and an unknown number of people were injured in a shooting at a youth welfare facility which includes supported accommodation for young mothers in Stade, near Hamburg in northern Germany.

• Two people have been apprehended at the scene, including the suspected shooter, police confirmed.

• There is no active danger to the public, police said.

• The motive for the shooting and the circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear at this stage.

Police and rescuers work at the scene where five people were killed in a shooting in Stade, northern Germany. Photograph: Ibrahim Ot/AFP/Getty Images

Early pictures from Stade, including video footage shown by Welt TV, show young women with children led by officers away from the scene, and police technicians leaving evidence markets on the pavement.

We will no doubt get more clarity on the incident in due course.

We are now getting first pictures from the scene in Stade, Germany.

Police and rescuers work at the scene where several people were killed in a shooting in Stade, northern Germany. Photograph: Fabian Hofig/NEWS5/AFP/Getty Images

Five dead, more injured and two arrested in German city of Stade, police confirms

We have just got a further update from the Stade police, confirming that five adults were killed, and an unknown number of other people sustained injuries.

“Two suspected perpetrators, including the suspected shooter, were arrested,” it added.

The police said the incident took place at a “youth care facility” in the city, which German media say also include a facility supporting vulnerable mothers with young children. Details are yet to be confirmed.

“Investigations into the background and the exact sequence of events are ongoing,” it said.

There is no active danger to the public.

Five reported dead after a shooting in northern Germany - what we know so far

We are still waiting for a further update from the Stade police.

We know that there are reportedly five people dead after a shooting in Stade near Hamburg in northern Germany, and police have apprehended a suspect.

But we don’t know much more at this stage as the police operation appears to be very much still under way.

The motives or the circumstances of the attack are still unclear, as well as the identities of the affected people.

There are also conflicting reports as to the nature of the place where the shooting happened, with reports saying it is either a youth centre or a mother and child shelter.

We will publish more details here as soon as we know more.

The reported death toll – five dead – has been confirmed by the police to the German news agency DPA and other local media, including ZDF.

The motive and the exact circumstances of the incident are yet to be clarified.

Early local media reporting says the shooting took place at a youth centre, but this is yet to be confirmed.

A police notice issued to the public warns of an ongoing “large-scale operation” in Stade, telling people to leave and avoid the area.

“Please only share official information and do not spread rumours,” it added.

Five people reported dead in shooting in Germany

Pivoting to breaking news from Germany, I am looking at reports of a shooting in the German city of Stade.

Stade is located approximately 45 kilometers west of Hamburg in northern Germany.

Five people are reported dead after “numerous” shots were fired, with the main suspect apprehended by the police, local media say.

I will bring you more as soon as we have it.

Europe environment correspondent

Has Europe failed to learn from its past?

The devastation of summer 2003 triggered the first serious attempts to deal with heat, as governments linked early warning systems to rapid response measures for when temperatures rose, such as limiting travel, closing schools and cancelling non-urgent appointments in hospitals.

Research has found such adaptations have proved successful, with mortality rates now far less sensitive to shifts in temperature. If the 2003 heatwave were to strike today with the same strength, a study found in November, the projected death toll would be 75% lower.

A woman uses umbrella to hide from the sun during heatwave in Belgrade, Serbia. Photograph: Đorđe Kojadinović/Reuters

But at the same time, heatwaves are growing hotter, longer and more common – and it is entirely unclear if efforts to adapt will keep up with the rising concentrations of planet-heating pollution in the atmosphere.

This year, early warning systems kicked into action before the summer had even begun, as shock May heat swept north-west Europe and shattered the UK’s historical temperature record for May by a full 2C.

Two weeks later, the Europe chief of the World Health Organization (WHO), Hans Kluge, stood in Berlin to announce the update of the WHO’s guidelines for heat health action plans, 18 years after they were first released. Just two weeks have passed since then, and Berlin is facing 40C heat.

Climate breakdown is heating Europe faster than any other continent – the result of local weather patterns and proximity to the rapidly melting Arctic – and the current heatwave is no exception to its effects. A rapid attribution study published on Friday by World Weather Attribution (WWA) found it would have been “virtually impossible” at this time of year just 50 years ago.

Europe on 'a one-way trip towards a more dangerous future,' expert warns

Europe environment correspondent

Particularly troubling for human health are the sweltering overnight temperatures reached this week, which the scientists found were about 100 times more likely than in 2003, while the daytime peaks have grown about 10 times more likely.

Parisians put reflective sheeting over windows in an attempt to beat the heat during a record-breaking heatwave in France. Photograph: JB Russell/Panos Pictures

They ruled out any influence from El Niño, the natural warming weather pattern that recently formed in the Pacific. It will peak in strength toward the end of the year and is likely to make 2027 the hottest on record globally.

For scientists who have long warned that heatwaves are getting worse as carbon pollution rises, the failure to follow expert advice has become tiring.

“There’s a sad inevitability to all of this, with scientists like me trotting out the same quotes year after year,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-author of the WWA study, speaking before this week’s records had been broken.

“Yes it’s climate change, yes it’s us, no it’s not El Niño. Simply put, we remain on a one-way trip towards a more dangerous future, and it’s time we hit the brakes.”