Even little snowfall can lead to considerable traffic obstructions in major northern German cities.
According to the police, 200 to 300 drivers of the so-called drifting scene were looking for the new snow in the Sauerland at the weekend.
They let their cars slide through Winterberg.
While there were several administrative offenses and a traffic accident with a hit and run there, according to initial findings, the onset of winter has far more serious consequences elsewhere.
On Monday, the police in the Sauerland reported dozens of traffic accidents.
"It's cracking all the time," they said.
Several people were slightly injured.
There were also accidents with injuries in other parts of the country.
In Baden-Wuerttemberg and Hesse, it crashed on the late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, according to the local police headquarters, often on the slippery road.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, two women were seriously injured in an accident on the snow-covered A20 on Saturday evening.
The driver lost control of the car, it was said.
Snow drifts possible
In Winterberg in the Sauerland, the ski season started with two lifts before the official opening.
The first winter sports enthusiasts took advantage of the offer on Saturday morning.
According to a spokeswoman for the ski area, two slopes had been prepared for the weekend - with artificially generated snow and initially very limited operation.
Snow also fell in Saxony, for example on the almost 1215 meter high Fichtelberg.
The highest point had been covered in sugar for days, but it was the first snow to remain at minus five degrees Celsius, said the German Weather Service (DWD).
According to the DWD, the onset of winter should soon also be felt by numerous people in the lowlands.
According to the forecast, a weather situation spreads from the north to the south-east, with two successive lows causing strong winds and precipitation.
According to the DWD, the lows meet cold polar air.
They could turn the rain in many places into snow that spreads all over the country.
"You have to reckon with a few centimeters of snow down to the deeper elevations and, because of the sometimes stormy wind, snow drifts," said meteorologist Christian Herold.
In the mountainous region, "a marked increase in fresh snow" and gale-force gusts in places are to be expected.
In the lowlands, however, the snow quickly disappears again at maximum temperatures of up to eight degrees.
While permafrost prevails in the mountains, it stays cold and wet in the lowlands at zero to five degrees.
A new storm area is already predicted for Wednesday, but then it should be significantly milder with up to twelve degrees.
The nights are likely to remain largely frost-free before »a torrent of polar air« sloshes over the country on Thursday.
apr / dpa
