It snowed so heavily in Austria that the Brenner motorway to the south between Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass was closed. How long the important traffic route from Germany to Italy must remain closed was announced Motorway operator Asfinag not known for now.
According to Asfinag, around 40 centimeters of snow fell within a short period of time on Friday. Despite the ban on driving and overtaking, trucks used several lanes of the highway and then got stuck in the snow. The trucks blocked snow removal vehicles and other cars, it was said. More than 20 clearing vehicles and tow trucks were on the highway.
The amount of snow also poses a danger for winter sports enthusiasts. In large parts of the Tyrolean Alps, the second highest warning level on the 5-level avalanche warning scale applies. Hazardous areas may be covered in snow. “Winter sports enthusiasts should be aware that spontaneous avalanche activity is to be expected in the coming days and that avalanches can sometimes be triggered quite easily,” warned Christoph Mitterer from the state’s avalanche warning service according to ORF. “South of the Inn the danger of avalanches increases mainly due to the large amount of fresh snow, north of the Inn wind slab problems are to be expected and therefore there is also a significant risk of avalanches,” he said.