Winter weather all over Germany: snow rolls cover numerous regions

Created: 03/31/2022, 14:51

By: Jennifer Lanzinger

The scooter stops there: Snow heralds April.

(Iconic image) © Daniel Bockwoldt/DPA

Winter is celebrating a surprising comeback in almost all of Germany, and some regions were already happy about snow on Thursday.

An expert talks about the prospects for the next few days.

Offenbach – Winter is celebrating its comeback in Germany this spring, and a thin layer of snow had already spread over many regions in northern Germany overnight.

During the course of Thursday and Friday night, the winter comeback should then spread to other regions in Germany.

Sub-zero temperatures and frost could sometimes cause chaos on the streets.

Winter weather all over Germany: snow roll covers numerous regions - expert expresses forecast

The German Weather Service (DWD) titled its forecast on Thursday "The Revenge of Winter": "Instead of spring-like and sunny weather * with warm temperatures like last week, the weather in Central Europe will be determined by a massive cold air rush," said meteorologist Christian Herold in Offenbach.

So bring in plants, leave winter tires on and don't put your boots in the basement just yet.

The heating also has to be turned up again in many places.

Snow in Northern Germany: Winter weather causes disruptions in local transport on Thursday

The reason for the change in weather is that the high air pressure has shifted towards the North Sea and Greenland.

This allows a broad current of arctic cold air to reach south.

At the limit of the air masses there was already up to six centimeters of fresh snow on Thursday.

"In some places, the snow is higher there than in the entire winter," said Herold.

According to the DWD, this was mainly the case in Schleswig-Holstein, but also in Hamburg and Bremen.

A man pulls his daughter on a sled to the day care center when it snows.

© Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa

The surprising onset of winter in the north made for pretty pictures and children in particular should be happy about the comeback of the sleds, but disruptions in rail traffic also dominated the picture in the early morning.

The Deutsche Bahn announced on Thursday on its website that there will probably be impairments until midday due to the winter weather, especially in the Hamburg area.

Long-distance traffic was also disrupted.

Weather in Germany: Spring is a long way off - snow cover covers numerous regions

Although spring gave a foretaste of sun and warm temperatures last weekend, the comeback of winter will remain dominant in the coming days.

"You shouldn't change your winter tires in the south or in the middle either," advises the meteorologist.

On Friday it snows in the middle of Germany, on the weekend also in the south.

Even at low altitudes, a thin layer of snow can form.

It gets really wintry in the central low mountain ranges, where ten to 15 centimeters of fresh snow can fall - locally even more.

It gets a maximum of one to seven degrees warm.

Due to the strong gusty north-easterly wind, it should feel even colder than it is, as Herold said.

“It is better to bring sensitive plants inside at night.” Because the temperatures drop to lows of minus eight degrees.

However, spring is not very far away, and there is hope for the new week: "In the coming week it will gradually get warmer in the south, which means that the temperatures there will reach a normal level for the time of year," said Herold.

In the north, the cold air lasts even longer.

In addition, the first days of April will be wet.

"A trend reversal back to warm and sunny weather is currently not in sight."