Status: 16.01.2024, 16:12 PM
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Snowy: Two pedal boats in the shape of a swan and a flamingo on the Havel in Potsdam. © Georg Moritz/dpa
Slippery roads and a lot of snow cause impairments and accidents in Germany. Germany's largest airport is also severely restricting its air traffic.
Berlin - In large parts of Germany, heavy snowfall and black ice are affecting people's everyday lives. The German Weather Service (DWD) in Offenbach issued several severe weather warnings for this Wednesday. Heavy snowfall and extreme black ice are expected to affect the center and south of the country in particular, according to the DWD.
According to the DWD, a "full-blown severe weather situation due to snow and sometimes extreme freezing rain" is expected to develop from the southwest from the second half of the night to Wednesday. The weather service warned for Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Thuringia and Saxony of partly extreme black ice. According to the report, significant effects on infrastructure are expected, such as "massive ice build-up on objects, on roads and in vegetation".
Heavy snowfall will mainly affect central Germany on Wednesday. For parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, the DWD warned of the danger that trees could collapse under the weight of the snow.
Air traffic severely restricted
Frankfurt Airport expects numerous flight cancellations on Wednesday due to the announced snowfall. Until Thursday, only a severely limited air traffic could take place, the operating company Fraport announced. In large parts of Hesse, 15 to 30 centimeters of snow are expected to fall in 12 to 24 hours, higher amounts cannot be ruled out.
The DWD warns of "considerable traffic disruptions and risk of snow breakage". North of the Main there are also persistent and sometimes heavy snowfalls. On Thursday, snow is expected to fall only in the south of Germany.
Serious accidents on the roads
Already in the night to Tuesday, icy temperatures caused slippery roads in Germany. In Oderwitz in the Saxon district of Görlitz, a 28-year-old man died in an accident. He had left the slippery road with his car and crashed into two trees.
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In Lower Saxony, there were several closures on motorways on Tuesday due to crashed trucks, according to the police departments. Several people were injured. In Brandenburg, the police counted dozens of collisions. There are also said to have been injuries.
But it's not just parts of Germany that are suffering from the snow - the weather has also brought quite a bit of precipitation in the north of Great Britain. Around 100 schools in Scotland remained closed on Tuesday as a precaution due to snow and ice on the roads, the British news agency PA reported. In Northern Ireland, too, some schools did not open. Dpa