It was slippery on many paths and streets on Wednesday morning, but the people of Munich were apparently well prepared for the weather. Neither the police nor the fire department reported any major accidents due to the black ice in the afternoon. “We obviously have no problems in Munich,” said a police spokesman.
A spokesman for the fire department spoke of a “calm situation”. The citizens of Munich had prepared well for the predicted situation. By midday there had been ten falls in the city area in which the emergency services had been called. The fire brigade was not in action.
The day before, the German Weather Service (DWD) had warned of snowfall, which would turn into freezing rain on Wednesday morning: “There is a high risk of slippery conditions due to freezing rain and ice formation.” The trigger was “a distinctively pronounced warm front”. Black ice is expected to occur in a storm-like manner.
The city’s winter service department’s construction department deployed 1,000 employees for a special operation on Wednesday night. They used 600 vehicles to spread salt and grit on roadways, sidewalks and bicycle paths. The city said that preventive surface treatment in advance is crucial in the event of freezing rain so that ice formation can be reduced as much as possible.
At Munich Airport in Erdinger Moos, 250 flights were canceled. The remaining 410 takeoffs and landings planned for Wednesday could take place. The situation at the terminals was calm, it was said in the morning. Many passengers were probably informed by the airlines in good time and therefore did not even come to the airport.
The runways had been cleared and de-iced several times, a spokesman said in the afternoon. The weather situation had already relaxed later in the morning. Since then, both railways have been back in operation.
There were no significant restrictions on the S-Bahn: “The weather did not cause any problems for the S-Bahn today,” said a spokeswoman. There were only “very isolated” switch disruptions, “but not worth mentioning.”