Black ice and freezing rain caused disruption in parts of Germany on Monday as a lengthy freeze gave way to milder and wetter weather, with trains traveling at reduced speed, cancellations at the country’s busiest airport and a spate of traffic accidents.
The German Weather Service warned of widespread black ice across the country, except in the south and west.
ARCTIC BLAST TO BRING LIFE-THREATENING COLD TO MUCH OF US AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS, FORECASTERS WARN
National railway operator Deutsche Bahn said that it had reduced its trains’ maximum speed because of freezing rain and ice. It advised customers on Twitter to expect delays. However, it lifted the restrictions in mid-morning.
Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s busiest, said that 176 of the day’s planned 1,100 departures and arrivals had been canceled as of Monday morning, German news agency dpa reported. One runway was closed and the number of planes that could land was reduced, while deicing of planes also was causing delays.
Schools were closed completely or partly in parts of northwestern Germany. There were numerous traffic accidents, including one on a highway between Bremen and Hannover in which a 25-year-old man died when his car went off the road.
