Onset of winter
Snow and black ice: long traffic jams at night – situation tense
Nothing worked on the highways 4, 5 and 7 in East Hesse: trucks got stuck on the snow-covered road. Traffic jams stretched for kilometers and many drivers were stranded at night. photo
© Bernd März/dpa
Snow and slippery conditions can cause further disruption. There are restrictions on flight operations at Frankfurt Airport. During the night nothing worked on some highways.
Due to slippery conditions and snow, several highways in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate Hundreds of vehicles got stuck at night. In East Hesse, rescue workers provided blankets and hot drinks to the inmates in kilometer-long traffic jams, the police said. Due to the ongoing risk of ice, many flights were canceled at Frankfurt Airport. There are no buses in Cologne due to the winter weather. The weather situation remains tense in parts of Germany due to freezing rain and snowfall: The German Weather Service (DWD) is expecting lots of snow today.
From the Eifel and the Cologne area via the Rothaar Mountains to Thuringia, people have to prepare for “persistent and sometimes heavy snowfalls”. The DWD expects “storm-like amounts of fresh snow” of up to 30 centimeters within 24 hours and warns of “significant traffic disruptions and the risk of snow breakage.” “Snowfalls repeatedly lead to traffic disruptions, especially in the lowlands,” observes the DWD.
The DWD also predicted snowfall for the southeast half, initially rain for the extreme southeast, later snow there too. Otherwise, according to the forecast, there will be isolated snow showers, with breaks in between. Sunny winter weather can be expected across Germany towards the weekend.
Big traffic chaos even at night
During the night there were massive traffic disruptions on several motorways in Germany due to the weather. According to an initial police estimate, around 2,000 people were stuck in kilometer-long traffic jams on the A3 in northern Rhineland-Palatinate. According to the police, traffic came to a standstill in both directions, particularly between the Bad Honnef/Linz and Neustadt/Wied junctions.
Because trucks got stuck on the snow-covered road, nothing worked on the A4, A5 and A7 in East Hesse. In addition to road maintenance vehicles, Red Cross support vehicles are on duty to provide drivers with blankets and hot drinks in the cold, a police spokesman said. According to this, several trucks in particular blocked the lanes because they were either no longer able to drive up gradients due to the wintry conditions or had sometimes slipped across the road.
There were numerous accidents during the night due to the persistent slippery conditions. When five vehicles collided on the slippery A44, six people were injured, some of them seriously. According to the police, several cars and trucks collided one after the other because they skidded or were no longer able to brake in time. The material damage was estimated at around 120,000 euros.
The DWD advised drivers to ensure that, in addition to a sufficiently full tank in the car, they have warm clothing and blankets as well as warm drinks and food. The German Alpine Club warned: “Heavy snowfalls can cause branches and tree tops to break off. Some of them fall to the ground, some of them are still hanging in the trees.”
Frankfurt Airport and schools affected
Many flights were canceled at Frankfurt Airport. This is shown by a look at the arrival and departure boards on the airport’s website. “Passengers are asked to check their flight status on the airline websites before arriving at the airport and to allow sufficient time for the journey,” the site also said. “If your flight is canceled, please do not come to the airport.”
Due to freezing rain, aircraft take-offs at Germany’s largest airport were temporarily suspended. Fraport justified this by saying that the machines could no longer be safely de-iced before take-off due to persistent freezing rain. Individual planes have been able to take off again since the afternoon.
Due to the ongoing winter weather, the Cologne transport company buses are not running today either. A spokesman said early in the morning that the weather conditions did not yet allow safe operation. Delays should also be expected with the light rail. Bus operations had also been suspended in Bonn for the time being. The responsible Bonn municipal utilities announced that whether the buses would run again today should be reassessed in the morning.
School cancellations are expected today due to the weather conditions.