Traffic chaos in large parts of the country: At the start of the week before Christmas there is dangerous black ice in Germany.
The German Weather Service (DWD) issued severe weather warnings for parts of all federal states on Monday morning.
Traffic obstructions are possible due to black ice, and roads and rails could even be impassable in places, it said.
Because the ground is frozen to a depth of more than 20 centimeters, the black ice situation can last for a long time.
"The mitigation has now largely prevailed in western North Rhine-Westphalia, where the black ice situation is increasingly easing."
A 25-year-old driver died in an accident on Autobahn 27 near Walsrode-Hamwiede early Monday morning.
A spokesman for the Langwedel Autobahn Police said in the morning that the car had left the road due to slippery roads.
After the accident, the freeway was first full and then partially blocked until the morning.
There were 33 accidents due to black ice on the roads in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Four people were slightly injured.
The majority of the accidents happened in Koblenz and Trier, as a spokesman for the situation center said.
Because of the storm, there were collisions between vehicles on the slippery roads.
Some of the cars also crashed into crash barriers.
The total damage from all accidents was around 83,000 euros.
Four people were injured in a collision between two cars on a snow-covered road near Gaggenau (Rastatt district).
A 34-year-old driver was trapped in the impact and had to be freed from the car by rescue workers.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, there were accidents in the Rhein-Lahn district with two minor injuries.
In the district of Warendorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, the police counted seven weather-related accidents with property damage between midnight and 3 a.m.
One fears more accidents in the morning hours.
"Perhaps one or the other can postpone their departure time a bit, at least until the gritting services are over," said a spokesman early Monday morning.
Traffic chaos in Hesse
In Hesse, too, there are currently restrictions on local public transport.
In Frankfurt am Main, all bus lines, subways and trams are affected, the Frankfurt transport company VGF announced on its website on Monday.
There are therefore delays, timetable deviations and cancellations.
Passengers would have to be prepared for longer travel times.
The black ice also disrupted the processes at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt on Monday morning.
In view of the weather conditions, there are delays in operations and flight cancellations, the airport said.
According to an airport spokeswoman, 176 of the around 1,100 take-offs and landings planned for Monday had already been canceled in the morning.
Travelers were asked to find out before their flight whether their booked machine was starting and should come to the check-in counter as early as possible.
Flight operations have not been completely stopped, said the spokeswoman.
However, there is initially a so-called approach control, which means that only a certain number of machines – fewer than usual – are allowed to land per hour.
The Northwest runway was therefore closed in the morning.
The winter service and gritting vehicles are in constant use.
The necessary de-icing of the aircraft also leads to delays.
Cancellations and delays in the Rhine-Main area
In the area of the North Hessian Transport Association (NVV), bus services were suspended due to icy roads.
The city of Kassel with the neighboring communities and the Waldeck-Frankenberg district were particularly affected by the cancellations, as the NVV announced on its website.
Also in the area of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV), bus traffic is particularly affected by cancellations and delays, according to the company's website.
In some cases, bus operations have also been completely discontinued.
In rail traffic, there are only a few cancellations and delays.
There are also consequences for schools, for example in Lower Saxony: In several districts and cities, classes are canceled on Monday at all general and vocational schools due to the “expected extreme weather conditions”.
This was announced by the districts of Celle, Hameln-Pyrmont, County of Bentheim, Leer, Osterholz, Stade, Wittmund and Vechta as well as the cities of Delmenhorst, Hildesheim and Wolfsburg - as well as the city and district of Osnabrück.
In the city and district of Göttingen, there are no classes at primary and secondary schools, but not at vocational schools.
Rising temperatures
Temperatures are rising this week.
With the mild air comes rain, which makes the frozen ground slippery.
"The center and the north are reached in the morning - of all things for the rush hour to roll in," said Sonja Stöckle from the DWD weather forecast center on Sunday.
The DWD advised to avoid being outdoors as much as possible.
Anyone who has to be out and about by car on Monday should adjust their driving style on the road.
In addition, the DWD advises motorists to fill up their tanks and take blankets and warm drinks with them.
