Due to the freezing temperatures – in some places still in connection with rain – the German Weather Service (DWD) in Munich continues to warn of black ice. The official warning is currently valid until Thursday morning. It cannot be ruled out that freezing rain will sometimes last for many hours. Massive restrictions on road and rail traffic are to be expected.
In addition, there could be damage to the infrastructure, such as electricity pylons and lines. According to the DWD, there is a risk of ice breaking in forests.
There is a particularly high risk of ice south of Munich
For some districts, especially in the south of Munich in the foothills of the Alps, the Katwarn warning service reported a particularly great danger from black ice on Thursday morning, also in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and in the Starnberg district.
On Wednesday, the icy winter weather had messed up the flight schedule quite a bit: at times no planes could take off and land. Around 150 flights were initially canceled and 26 diverted, a spokesman for the airport told the German Press Agency. Both runways were reopened by the evening.
The airport crew was deployed with 150 clearing vehicles and 160 employees. “There are no compromises when it comes to safety,” the spokesman said. “If it keeps raining on it, we can’t open the track.” Flights were diverted to Stuttgart, Vienna and Nuremberg, among others. There, winter service employees were also busy clearing lanes and de-icing aircraft in the afternoon. In the afternoon, the airport operator announced that at least some landings were possible again. Initially, only the northern runway was released again, then only the southern one, said the airport spokesman. Starts were only possible again in the evening after the release of both runways.
Train traffic is also affected: Deutsche Bahn had to temporarily stop regional traffic between Munich and Buchloe on Wednesday due to the weather.