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Highways paralyzed: snow and ice cause traffic chaos

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Extreme weather
“Chaotic” and “problematic”: Ice is paralyzing traffic on many highways

Icicles in fir tree, Saxony-Anhalt

© Matthias Bein / DPA

Hundreds of people were stuck in traffic jams for hours: snow and slippery roads caused significant disruption. Highways with odd numbers were particularly affected.

Heavy snow and black ice are on the way Motorways caused traffic chaos and left drivers in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate stranded in kilometer-long traffic jams. According to the police, nothing happened for a stretch of 50 kilometers on Autobahn 61 near Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, and traffic jams that had already occurred during the night in East Hesse near Bad Hersfeld and Fulda continued on Thursday.

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Police: Situation “very problematic”

In Hesse, for example, vehicles standing across several highways hindered traffic in the morning. In most cases, only individual lanes were closed, so traffic at least moved slowly.

That morning, a police spokesman described the situation as “very problematic”. There were kilometers of traffic jams on all motorways. Nothing was working on Wednesday evening: several trucks blocked the lanes on icy roads. Pictures showed trucks standing on snow-covered roads. You could also see how helpers on quad bikes were out in traffic jams to help the people stuck in the vehicles.

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Traffic jam in North Rhine-Westphalia over 20 kilometers

In the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, patience was also required in the morning. On the A3, traffic was backed up for over 20 kilometers from Lohmar to Bad Honnef. “Due to stationary trucks, cars can sometimes pass through, but it’s actually still – let me put it cautiously – a bit chaotic,” said a police spokesman about the situation on the A3. On the A4, traffic between Düren and Aachen-Laurensberg was backed up for over 20 kilometers in both directions.

According to a spokeswoman, train traffic at Deutsche Bahn started without any major disruptions. However, ICE trains between Stuttgart and Paris were canceled on Thursday due to weather conditions in France. Air travelers also sometimes needed patience. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Frankfurt Airport. More than 300 of around 1,000 flights have been canceled, said a Fraport spokeswoman. The airport in Munich returned to normal operations.

Some schools remained closed – for example in the Göttingen district in southern Lower Saxony. The district justified the decision by saying that regular school transport was not possible. However, emergency care should be set up at schools. There was also no compulsory attendance in Hesse in the Gießen district and the Vogelsberg district. The Werra-Meißner district, for example, recommended distance learning to schools.

It should get milder from Sunday

The wintry weather also created white snowy landscapes, for example in the Erzgebirge and Harz. The sun was already showing up here and there. It should shine this Friday and Saturday at least in some parts of Germany. However, it can still snow in northern regions. From Sunday onwards, meteorologists expect a change in the weather – it should become milder and stormy.