Bayern’s Bundesliga home game is canceled, passengers have to spend the night on trains, there are no flights at Munich Airport: heavy snowfall is causing chaos in the south of Bavaria.
No flight operations, a canceled Bundesliga game, traffic jams and canceled trains: snow and ice are causing major disruption in Bavaria. Flight operations at Munich Airport have been suspended until 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, a spokesman announced this morning. FC Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga home game against 1. FC Union Berlin in the afternoon has been canceled.
Numerous railway lines around the state capital Munich had to be closed, and passengers spent the night on trains in Ulm and Munich. Anyone traveling by train in southern Germany will have to be prepared for severe disruptions until Monday, according to a railway spokeswoman. The heavy snowfall leads to long traffic jams on the highways. People in other federal states also felt the consequences.
Disruptions at the airports
The winter service is in operation at Munich Airport to enable safe operations again, said a spokesman. So far, around 320 of 760 planned flights have been canceled for today. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight before traveling to the airport.
The suspension of flight operations in Munich due to snow also caused delays at Frankfurt Airport. Around 20 planes that were supposed to land in Munich were diverted to Frankfurt, said a spokesman for airport operator Fraport on Saturday morning.
Nuremberg Airport also picked up individual aircraft that could no longer head to Munich, as a spokesman for Nuremberg Airport announced. However, due to capacity reasons, Nuremberg Airport can only accommodate a limited number of aircraft.
There are also some disruptions in other European countries. The airport in the Scottish city of Glasgow suspended operations on Saturday due to heavy snowfall.
Bayern vs Union Berlin game canceled
Due to the weather chaos, the Bundesliga home game of German soccer champions FC Bayern Munich against 1. FC Union Berlin cannot take place on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.). This was announced by the Bundesliga club from Berlin and the Munich transport company. Due to safety risks for everyone involved, it was decided not to whistle the game, it was said.
Because of the turf heating in the Allianz Arena, the main concern was not the usability of the pitch, but rather the safety and, above all, the travel of the spectators, some of whom come to Munich from further away.
Long-distance traffic in the south is canceled – overnight trains
According to information from Deutsche Bahn, long-distance connections from the Bavarian capital to Salzburg, Innsbruck, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Lindau are canceled. The railway assumes that the restrictions will last throughout Saturday. “We recommend postponing trips to and from Munich,” said the spokeswoman.
As a dpa reporter reported, a train coming from Stuttgart had to be converted into an overnight train at Ulm main station in the early hours of the morning. Deutsche Bahn also provided a train for stranded passengers at Munich Central Station.
Subways, buses and trams initially stopped running in the Bavarian capital on Saturday. Local public transport was also stopped in Augsburg. There were numerous accidents on the roads in southern Bavaria – according to the police, most of them resulted in property damage.
Kilometers of traffic jams on Bavaria’s highways
The heavy snowfall is causing long traffic jams on the highways in Bavaria. On the A8 towards Salzburg, a traffic jam near Munich already stretches for 30 kilometers, said a spokeswoman for the ADAC on Saturday morning. There are currently 96 traffic jams across Germany that are more than ten kilometers long – all of them in Bavaria. The A6 and A9 are also severely affected.
The automobile club recommends temporarily refraining from unnecessary car journeys and, if so, only driving with winter equipment, said the spokeswoman.
Emergency service in constant use – driver dies
The police in Upper Bavaria South urged the population to stay at home. The police, rescue services, fire brigade and clearance services are in constant operation. Many smaller roads outside of towns are heavily snowed or blocked by fallen trees.
In Baden-Württemberg, a 54-year-old driver died in an accident on a snowy road. As the police announced on Saturday, the man skidded and, after turning 180 degrees, came into the oncoming lane in Emmingen-Liptingen. There he collided with a pickup truck on Friday evening.
Up to 40 centimeters of fresh snow in the Allgäu
In the other federal states it was mostly freezing cold, but no accidents were reported for the time being. Hamburg reported five centimeters of fresh snow. The clearing vehicles are in use, it was said.
According to the German Weather Service, the highest amounts of new snow are expected in the Allgäu region with 30 to 40 centimeters by Saturday afternoon. Amounts of fresh snow of ten centimeters are possible in Saxony. In addition, frequent snow showers are expected on the North and Baltic Sea coasts and in the adjacent inland areas, which will spread to the northern low mountain ranges over the course of the day. Light permanent frost is expected throughout the day. Only along the Rhine and in the Emsland as well as directly by the sea will it remain temporarily frost-free in some places.
On Sunday night, severe frost with lows of between minus 10 and minus 15 degrees can be expected, especially in Schleswig-Holstein and the southwestern mountains, it said.
Major avalanche danger in Austria and Switzerland
In parts of Austria and Switzerland there is the second highest avalanche warning level after heavy snowfall. The authorities announced that warning level 4 had been declared in the high altitudes of the federal states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. In Switzerland, the danger of avalanches in high alpine terrain is high in Graubünden and Valais, said the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research.
In Tyrol in Austria there were problems not only on the roads, but also in rail traffic. In addition, the power went out in some places because trees fell on the lines. The ÖAMTC traffic club reported deep winter road conditions, especially on the north side of the Alps and on the eastern edge of the Alps. Many main routes were difficult to pass on Saturday and there were repeated traffic jams and accidents. Highways were also affected.