Posted in Foreign News

Heavy snowfall shuts down air, rail links in southern Germany

   December 2, 2023
Heavy snowfall shuts down air, rail links in southern Germany


Flights at Munich Airport were stopped and FC Bayern Munich’s home game against Union Berlin was also canceled.

Heavy snowfall overnight paralyzed air and rail connections in the southern German state of Bavaria, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.

All flights at Munich airport, a major regional and international hub, remained grounded until 6 a.m. (05:00) GMT on Sunday, the airport said. Air traffic was initially suspended until midday on Saturday (11:00 GMT).

“Passengers are strongly advised not to travel to the airport today [Saturday] and to check the status of their flight with their airline before traveling to the airport tomorrow,” airport authorities said.

German airline Lufthansa highlighted the knock-on effect of the closure of Munich airport, saying that many other airports in Germany, including the one in Frankfurt, were “affected by restricted flight operations”.

The storms, which are expected to continue, also affected rail traffic in Bavaria, so that the main train station in the state capital Munich was almost paralyzed.

Regional and long-distance services to and from the main transport hub have been temporarily suspended, including services to the Austrian cities of Salzburg and Innsbruck. In some trains in Munich and Ulm, passengers had to spend the night on the trains.

The railway assumed that the restrictions would continue throughout Saturday. “We recommend postponing trips to and from Munich,” said a spokesman for the dpa news agency.

The FC Bayern Munich game was canceled

FC Bayern Munich’s home game against Union Berlin was canceled on Saturday due to heavy snowfall.

“Even if it had been possible to bring the pitch in the Allianz Arena into a condition that would have allowed the game to take place until the afternoon, security risks and the traffic situation made a cancellation unavoidable,” the club said in a statement.

“The snow falling from the roof of the Allianz Arena poses an incalculable danger to spectators. In addition, it is almost impossible to get to the stadium,” it continued.

Subways, buses and trams initially did not operate in the Bavarian capital. There were numerous accidents on the roads of southern Bavaria, which, according to the police, mostly caused property damage, the dpa said.

The German Weather Service expected continued heavy snowfall in the south, southeast and parts of the north of the state.

Many smaller roads outside built-up areas were heavily snowed or blocked by fallen trees as work to clear traffic delays continued.

Police in Lower Bavaria, the region northwest of Munich, said they responded to 350 snow and ice-related incidents between Friday night and early Saturday, some of which resulted in minor to moderate injuries.

Parts of neighboring Baden-Württemberg also saw up to 40cm of snowfall overnight, causing trees to fall and roads to be blocked.

According to police, a 54-year-old driver died in the town of Emmingen-Liptingen on Friday evening when his vehicle spun and collided with a van. The driver of the delivery truck was uninjured.

In Austria and Switzerland, renewed snowfall prompted authorities to sound the alarm about the danger of avalanches. The states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg in western Austria increased their avalanche warnings to the second highest level after up to 50 cm (20 inches) of snow fell in the region overnight.





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