MUNICH – The German Weather Service (DWD) had predicted it: the Gertrud low pressure system would prove to be an “explosive weather situation” in Germany today. A full-blown storm with “great danger to the life and safety of people due to freezing rain with heavy accumulation of ice”. The service also reported the threat of heavy snow, especially in the center of the country.
All the predictions turned out to be correct: the awakening in central and southern Germany was marked by «Glatteis», the «gelicide» or «black ice» which transforms road surfaces into skating rinks, causing dangerous falls for passers-by and triggering road accidents, which mostly only cause damage to vehicle bodies.
Bad weather in Germany: Munich wakes up under the snow
The special civil protection alert apps already starting last night warned citizens of the critical weather situation coming for Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, much of Hesse and parts of the Rhineland North-Westphalia, Thuringia and Saxony. In many areas, face-to-face lessons in schools and assistance to children in nurseries and nurseries have been suspended, and in many places public transport services have been suspended.
Motorway sections such as the A64 between Trier and Luxembourg or the A5 between Rastatt and Baden-Baden had to be closed due to the layer of ice on the road surface. Due to ice and snow, operations at several airports have been reduced: in the largest German hub, Frankfurt airport, around 600 of the 1,047 flights scheduled for the day have so far been cancelled. At the moment it is not yet clear whether more cancellations will be added as the airport wants to wait to see how the weather develops.
At Munich airport, more than 250 flights of the 650 scheduled for today have already been canceled due to freezing rain and a layer of ice on the runways. Also in this case the situation is evolving and constantly monitored. However, the airport advised that the maintenance service should be able to ensure that a runway remains open at all times. Even for train travelers today is a day in which we need to arm ourselves with great patience. Deutsche Bahn wrote on its website: “There may be delays and cancellations of trains in regional and long-distance transport.” As a precaution, the maximum speed of the ICE, the German high-speed trains, has been limited to 200 kilometers per hour. According to the railways, the appropriate services are on alert to free up switches or ensure traffic safety at level crossings.
Cold and snow also in Italy: by the weekend there will be an arctic disturbance with falling temperatures and frosts
Cristina Benenati
Numerous ICEs have been canceled between Paris and Frankfurt and between Paris and Stuttgart, but French TGV trains are currently running regularly on these connections and are less susceptible to problems caused by the presence of ice on the rails. The problem for the next few hours is the snow: the snowfall band is moving across Germany from the south-west to the east, as meteorologist Jürgen Schmidt explained to RND, and the snow will abundantly cover the center of the country, Schmidt predicts from 5 to 30 centimeters of fresh snow: “It could cause chaos.” In the coming days the situation should improve across the country, according to the German Meteorological Service “cold but sunny winter weather can be expected for the weekend”.
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