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Hurricane gusts, heavy rain, hail: warning of extreme thunderstorms

2022-05-20T05:45:30.943Z


Overflowing basements, lightning strikes, mud-covered streets: one storm has just passed, the next is already approaching - "single tornadoes cannot be ruled out," warns the German Weather Service.


Enlarge image

Lightning in Rattelsdorf, Bavaria: renewed risk of severe weather

Photo: Nicolas Armer / dpa

The weather situation in Germany initially calmed down a bit on Friday night.

There were - especially in Franconia - individual thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail and gusts of wind with up to 80 kilometers per hour.

But in many regions of Germany, people have to be prepared for severe storms again, warns the German Weather Service (DWD).

There should initially only be isolated thunderstorms in the morning - primarily in a strip along the Moselle and Main to the Ore Mountains, locally with heavy rain and hail.

But then: According to the DWD, there is a risk of severe thunderstorms with an increased risk of severe weather in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate from midday onwards.

Locally extremely heavy heavy rain with up to 40 liters per square meter is to be expected in a short time.

In addition, warnings are given of “large hail of up to five centimeters and heavy gusts of wind up to hurricane gusts with speeds between 100 and 130 kilometers per hour”.

A few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

According to the forecast, the thunderstorms will move eastwards towards Brandenburg and Saxony on Friday afternoon.

In the evening there can also be some strong thunderstorms in the south of the country with the potential for severe weather, mainly due to heavy rain and hail.

The highest temperatures are therefore between 20 degrees on the sea, muggy 27 degrees in the middle and hot 34 degrees on the Upper Rhine.

In the night of Saturday, the thunderstorms are expected to move to the east, from the west the situation will calm down.

"Only along and south of the Danube, for a long time, some heavy thunderstorms with heavy rain of around 25 liters per square meter per hour," according to the forecast.

It should then no longer be as warm as before - with maximum temperatures on the coast between 14 and 18 degrees, otherwise 20 to 25 degrees, on the Upper Rhine up to 27 degrees.

In view of the weather forecast, the State Office for Nature and the Environment in North Rhine-Westphalia activated the flood information service: the precipitation could affect the outflow in the water bodies in the state.

A concrete forecast is not yet possible.

In areas affected by heavy rain, local flooding could occur, and the water levels in the affected areas could rise significantly.

Lots of firefighting

A storm front had already reached North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday.

The storm had moved across the southwest near Aachen and then across the Rhineland, Münsterland and the Ruhr area.

The storm front later moved across South Westphalia in the direction of East Westphalia-Lippe.

Because of the storm, rail traffic to the neighboring Netherlands was temporarily interrupted.

Late in the evening, Deutsche Bahn reported on Twitter that international long-distance trains between Amsterdam, Cologne and Frankfurt were again on the move without restrictions.

However, due to weather-related repairs on the route, there will be delays and cancellations on the train between Cologne and Wuppertal on Friday.

The long-distance lines were affected, said the railway in the morning.

The section of road is only accessible to a limited extent.

Individual trains would therefore be diverted and delayed.

Some of the stops in Hagen, Wuppertal and Solingen were omitted.

Travelers should therefore definitely check their connection before driving.

Travelers could alternatively use S-Bahn and regional trains, the train said.

In many places the sky suddenly darkened.

There were local heavy rains, thunder and lightning.

Heavy rain also fell in the north.

In Hamburg, a flooded underground car park had to be pumped out by the fire brigade.

In Baden-Württemberg in the district of Ludwigsburg, too, the fire brigade had to pump out cellars and clear streets covered with mud.

In Trier, a person suffered minor injuries when they drove their car over a fallen tree, police said.

On Autobahn 1 near Illingen in Saarland, a driver was slightly injured in an accident – ​​aquaplaning had occurred on the road.

According to initial findings, a lightning strike was responsible for a roof truss fire in Zellingen near Würzburg.

The family who lives in the house was able to leave the house in good time during the strong thunderstorm on Thursday evening and was not injured, the police said on Friday.

The house suffered damage of around 250,000 euros.

When the fire brigade arrived, flames were already shooting out of the roof of the house.

However, the fire was quickly brought under control.

wit/dpa

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2022-05-20

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