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.
Significant delays in city traffic
The extreme weather is also causing cancellations and sometimes massive delays in local transport in Munich. The MVG warns of “significant disabilities” that are expected to last until Thursday afternoon. Especially Trams and buses sometimes make little progress – and some too S-Bahn trains are delayed or canceled altogether.
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.
Although some cars were involved in accidents on Bavaria’s roads during the night, no one was seriously injured, the police said.
There were over a dozen accidents involving 23 vehicles on Autobahns 9 and 99 near Munich. Overall, the damage was around 120,000 euros. One person was slightly injured, the Freising police said.
Complete closure of the A8 near Odelzhausen
A truck swayed on the snow-covered road early Thursday morning near Odelzhausen in the Dachau district: the truck trailer overturned. The driver was not injured in the accident, a police spokesman said. The A8 was completely blocked around the accident site in the direction of Munich. The rescue work would take a few hours, it said in the morning.
A detour was set up, but drivers would also have to expect waiting times there due to the weather conditions, the spokesman said.
Cancellations of Go-Ahead commuter trains
Despite the extreme weather, there have been no significant restrictions on the Bavarian railway lines. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said on Thursday morning.
The company Go-Ahead Bayern, on the other hand, reported some damaged trains as a result of the freezing rain on Wednesday. Therefore, the train service is reduced. Among other things, trains on the Augsburg-Munich and Augsburg-Ulm routes are canceled. Especially in the Augsburg network, the vehicles “can’t cope with the black ice,” as the company announced.
Munich Airport on Wednesday with closed runways
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 on Wednesday evening after the release of both lanes.
The good news from the weather service: It should loosen up on Friday.