After warm and stormy weeks, the weather is now turning to wintry. On Thursday there will be snow and sleet in the north-west and later also in the middle of Germany. In the western low mountain ranges, it can snow for a long time, as the German Weather Service (DWD) reported on Wednesday in Offenbach.
“In the case of heavy showers and especially in the mountains, a more or less thick layer of snow can form,” said meteorologist Marco Manitta from the weather forecast center. “So be careful when you’re out there.”
On Wednesday, the onset of winter in some parts of Germany led to traffic problems. For the Bavarian administrative district of Lower Franconia, the police reported around 110 weather-related accidents within a few hours on Wednesday, the emergency services in the region around the Saxon state capital Dresden had already counted 165 by Wednesday afternoon. There were also numerous accidents in rapid falls and ice elsewhere, for example in southern Brandenburg.
For the most part, there was body damage or minor injuries, but according to the police, serious accidents involving cars or cyclists also occasionally occurred. In Mönchengladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, two cyclists had to be taken to the hospital because they fell on slippery sections of road.
Heavy snowfall over the weekend
Most of the showers will subside on Friday night. Only in the northwest are more showers moving inland from the North Sea, which fall as snow and make the roads slippery. Otherwise it can come to slippery surfaces due to freezing wet conditions. On Friday there will be further snow showers, especially in the north-west, west and on the edge of the Alps.
At the weekend, the rest of the country can also enjoy fresh white. The DWD then expects a snow depth from the east, which will cause heavy snowfall “over a large area”. “It is not yet possible to say exactly to what extent the snowfall will arrive in the western parts of the country and how much fresh snow will fall,” said Manitta. It is certain that it will remain wintry until the beginning of next week “with the typical side effects”. (dpa / AFP)
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