Meal.
The weather on Thursday brought snow and frost, also in the lowlands. On Friday it can continue with snow and the risk of ice on the streets.
A comparatively small onset of winter hit North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday, of all times, during rush hour and partially paralyzed traffic. Although only a few centimeters of snow fell, it was enough to paralyze traffic on some motorways and country roads. Trucks parked sideways, commuters stood in long traffic jams, and bus services were temporarily suspended in some cities. There have been hundreds of traffic accidents, and some people have been injured.
“A small low brings snow to the lowlands in NRW,” reported Nadine Schittko, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD) in Essen. In the mountains are at this Thursday up to eight centimeters of fresh snow possible, in the lowlands between one and five centimeters, according to the DWD.
Weather in North Rhine-Westphalia: Permafrost at high altitudes
The temperatures were frosty and hardly rose above the freezing point even in the lowlands until midday, in the afternoon the temperatures are then one to two degrees above the freezing point; if there is snow, it will turn to mud, according to the DWD. In the mountains there will be permafrost throughout Thursday.
Because it got a little warmer on the Rhine and Ruhr from midday, the snowfall turned to sleet, said the DWD meteorologist. The low responsible for the weather is moving south-east and should have left NRW in the evening.
Snowfall again at higher altitudes on Friday
In the coming days, too, the DWD expects cold winter weather and the risk of ice. In the night on Friday there could be a few snow showers, especially in the south of the country. On some stretches, drivers would have to reckon with freezing wet conditions.
At the FridayThe DWD announced that the precipitation would take a short break in the morning. From Friday afternoon or evening there will probably be snowfall or sleet again west of the Rhine, said the meteorologist. Snow is to be expected again in the high areas in the mountains.
That weather at the weekend could not be reliably predicted according to the DWD on Thursday. Saturday should remain free of precipitation, Sunday could then bring snow again. The reason for this is a low-pressure area that is moving east from the Mediterranean and may also reach parts of NRW, according to the DWD.
Warning of slippery roads – traffic jams on the highways
“All of the vehicles in our highway maintenance departments are in use,” wrote the highway company in Westphalia on Twitter on Thursday. The WDR already counted around 243 kilometers of traffic jams in the morning rush hour, after which the value dropped again.
The longest traffic jams were from the A3 reported (10 kilometers between Kreuz Oberhausen and Kreuz Kaiserberg and eight kilometers between Kreuz Hilden and Mettmann; on the mountainous route, trucks had trouble making headway on slippery roads) and on the A46 (10 kilometers between Wuppertal-Wichlinghausen and the Sonnborner Kreuz in the direction of Düsseldorf). with several minutes more travel time due to traffic jams and slow-moving traffic, road users had to use the motorways, among other things A3 (between Hilden and Mettmann in the direction of Cologne) and on the autobahns A40 (between Bochum-Hamme and Essen), A43 (Bochum in the direction of Herne), the A46 near Schwalmtal and the A57 between Krefeld and Meerbusch.
in the Sauerland and in the Bergisches Land trucks had problems on the inclines. In Kierspe in the Märkisches Kreis the police had to block a federal road after a truck had crossed the slippery road.
The winter service was used on the motorways and in the cities. “Drive carefully – we’re working as fast as we can!” they wrote Business operations in Duisburg on Facebook. “Since 4.30 a.m. with 20 large and 22 small spreaders and 60 convoy trucks” they have been clearing snow from the streets in Duisburg and spreading salt. in the district of Olpe the police reported various accidents on Thursday due to slippery and snow-covered roads. Trucks in particular had gotten stuck on roads and caused traffic problems.
The Wuppertal Stadtwerke temporarily stopped bus services due to the circumstances. A police spokesman said there were 70 slippery accidents on the roads in Wuppertal, Remscheid and Solingen in the morning alone.
the Rheinbahn reported some delays in bus traffic due to the snowfall in the district of Mettmann. Also the Ruhrbahn in Essen and Mülheim reported delays and cancellations on some bus and tram lines due to the onset of winter.
the Stadtwerke Dortmund reported problems on some routes due to snow or accidents. There are delays, shared DWS21 on their Twitter channel with. In the meantime, the city-owned company Entsorgung Dortmund (EDG) reports that 35 clearing and gritting vehicles are on the move in the city area to clear a total of 1110 kilometers of streets and cycle paths in the city area from snow. Around 150 employees have been on duty since the early hours of the morning. In herdeck a bus has skidded on a slippery road. He crashed into a traffic light pole. 14 children were on the way to school on the bus, according to the police they were unharmed. The bus driver was slightly injured.
Other accidents also happened in other parts of the state throughout Thursday. While in Kerpen two drivers got into an accident due to the weather, the police in the Oberberg district reported several accidents in connection with the sudden onset of winter. In addition, rescue services and the fire brigade from Ratingen were in constant use.
Blocking on individual train routes
in the rail traffic According to Deutsche Bahn, the winter weather on Thursday did not cause any major problems. However, there were disturbances at individual level crossings and occasionally at points, for example in Dortmund, Bochum and near Hamm, said a spokesman. Between Oberhausen and Gelsenkirchen main station was the route closeddue to a short-term repair to a signal box, the DB announced, but the cause was not the winter weather. Between Essen Hbf and Essen-Kray-Nord there was one switch damage; There are also problems with partial failures. On the Route Lüdenscheid-Kierspe is a Tree fell on the railway system. The RB25 line is affected.
According to the police in NRW, there were no major problems overall. “It’s a bit slippery,” said a police spokeswoman in Münster. “Everyone should be prepared for such a weather situation in January,” said a spokeswoman in Dortmund.
Meanwhile, the winter sports arena Sauerland announced because of the very good snow conditions a total of 70 ski lifts would be in operation in the Winterberg and Willingen region this weekend; more than in the previous ski season, as it was said.
Winter chaos in Germany and summer heat in Brazil
The weather couldn’t be more different at the moment. In Germany it is getting really cold again in many places and the snow is falling from the sky even in the lowlands. Meanwhile, things are very different in Brazil. It’s really hot there. The thermometer showed temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius in the city of Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. However, the people there feel the heat to be much more intense. Because of the humidity and the wind it feels more like 50 degrees.
(Red./with dpa)
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