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Snow and ice keep traffic on the A2 near Dortmund
Photo: FRIEDEMANN VOGEL / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
In sub-zero temperatures and snow, traffic on Autobahn 2 near Dortmund came to a complete standstill for several hours.
Dozens of trucks got stuck on the road in the direction of Oberhausen on Monday afternoon and had to be freed by the technical relief organization, the police said.
All traffic is jammed between the Kamen / Bergkamen exit and the Dortmund motorway junction, and nobody can get through.
"We are currently trying to untangle the ball," said a police spokesman that evening.
There were no accidents.
Car and truck drivers, however, have been out in the cold for hours and are supplied by the fire brigade and THW.
The police warned the short message service Twitter against driving on the A2 in the direction of Oberhausen.
The roadways are "smooth as glass".
The winter weather also caused traffic chaos elsewhere.
Local traffic in Jena was completely shut down in the early morning hours.
A special shuttle service has been set up for the employees of the Jena University Hospital so that they can still get to their place of work - and patient care is ensured.
A city spokesman announced in the evening that personnel transport vehicles from the professional fire brigade and special trams would be used for this.
The shuttle service is still available at night and on Tuesday morning.
But it will remain icy for the next few days.
In fewer and fewer regions, it will be frost-free at least during the day, predicts the German Weather Service (DWD).
Night frost of minus 18 degrees expected
Accordingly, the temperatures on Tuesday only climb south of the Danube above zero degrees.
From Thursday, the maximum values will then remain "in the ice compartment area" from minus 1 to minus 9 degrees throughout Germany, as DWD meteorologist Martin Jonas announced.
In the middle and east of Germany, night frosts of minus 18 degrees are not uncommon.
If you are traveling by car, you should still be prepared for slippery roads.
Heavy snowstorms had already caused traffic chaos in parts of Germany on Sunday.
On Monday, at least at times, there was no getting through on several streets.
Trucks that got stuck in the snow had blocked several highways in the north and east of Hesse.
The A7 and A4 were particularly hard hit.
Deutsche Bahn also warned: "Due to extreme storms, there are delays and train cancellations in large parts of the country." Long-distance traffic was completely suspended on several connections.
For example, there were no long-distance trains from Berlin to Hanover and Munich.
Rail traffic should gradually normalize on at least some connections.
»Thousands of employees are on site.
In many places, under adverse circumstances and laboriously by hand, switches have to be de-iced and rails cleared, «wrote the railway in its press blog on the current weather situation.
Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer appealed to the citizens of northern and central Germany to refrain from traveling at least until Wednesday.
"In such extreme conditions, even the best point heating and the best clearing vehicle can reach their limits," said the CSU politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
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kfr / dpa