New wave of bad weather, named “Gertrud” has been affecting many areas of central and southern Germany since yesterday, from North Rhine-Westphalia to Baden-Württembergwith heavy snowfall reaching almost half a meter in some areas and ice on motorways, the railway network and the runways of many airports.

Only at its international airport Frankfurt more than 500 flights have been cancelled, i.e. half of the scheduled ones, while Bonn-Cologne and Munich airports are experiencing similar problems. At the same time, the major airports of Hamburg and Berlin are also affected by the problems in air transport due to the bad weather.

Accordingly, many train routes between Frankfurt and Stuttgart, as well as many connections to Paris have been cancelled. In areas of of North Rhine-Westphalia and her Bavaria schools were closed with lessons being taught by distance learning, while in several areas there were accidents with emergency services receiving many calls.

According to the German Meteorological Service, a similar picture is expected tomorrow, Thursday. Citizens in affected areas are being asked to stay at home due to dangerous ice. “Snow and ice are a disastrous mix,” point out the meteorologists on the public network ZDF.

Source: DW