Traffic jam on the A2 – “Something is brewing again”

Photo series with 18 pictures

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The onset of snowfall slows traffic on the Autobahn 2 near Bad Eilsen on Wednesday morning. As a spokesman for the responsible police in Bielefeld said, traffic was jammed at the state border with Lower Saxony. In the direction of Hanover two out of three lanes are passable, in the opposite direction to Dortmund one. “Something is brewing again,” said the spokesman. So it started to snow again in the morning. According to the police, there were initially no accidents. The WDR traffic radio reported about six kilometers of traffic jam in the direction of Dortmund shortly before 6 a.m.

“It’s chaotic,” said a spokesman for the Braunschweig autobahn police in the early morning. The main lane is closed on Autobahn 2 in the direction of Dortmund between the Wolfsburg and Peine intersection. The truck drivers would park there and sleep. “We have the largest parking lot in the republic.” It is still slippery everywhere, the road conditions are still not good.

Truck driver David from Georgia: Compulsory break at the Garbsen Nord motorway service station. (Source: Ole Spata / dpa)

Only a few accidents due to slipperiness

During the night, the feared renewed chaos on the motorways in Germany initially failed to materialize. On Tuesday evening, the police reported a three-kilometer traffic jam on the A30 near Hiddenhausen in the direction of Hanover. On the A2, the Bad Salzuflen exit had to be closed due to an accident during the night. However, the situation remained calm compared to Tuesday night. The police had warned urgently of another night of traffic jams on Tuesday and asked drivers to bypass the A2 and A30 widely.

In other federal states, the police only reported sporadic ice accidents. In Schleswig-Holstein, the A7 in the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district in the direction of Hamburg was temporarily completely closed after a clearing vehicle had burned. The police released the route again that night. There was only a short backlog because there were comparatively few cars on the road. “People have adjusted to the weather,” said a police spokeswoman.

Truck on a hard shoulder of the A2 at the Lipperland Nord service station: the service stations were overcrowded. (Source: Friso Gentsch / dpa)

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the police did not have any accident reports for the coastal regions either. In Thuringia, too, a police spokesman was relieved that the situation had normalized. “We are happy that it didn’t snow again.”

Temperatures around minus 20 degrees expected

There should be less snow overall, but the temperatures will stay in the ice cellar. “Hoch” Gisela “with a north-easterly to easterly current ensures widespread frosty temperatures during the day and at night for severe frosts of minus 20 degrees when clearing up,” explained DWD meteorologist Jens Bonewitz. From Thursday on – unlike before “People have adjusted to the weather” – the cold air will also prevail completely in southern Germany.

Early on Wednesday morning, the DWD reported severe frost between minus 10 and 15 degrees from northern Bavaria to the Mecklenburg Lake District, with isolated cases of minus 25 degrees in central Germany in particular. During the day, temperatures should be between minus 2 and 9 degrees, sometimes even frostier.

Closure of the A2 near Bad Salzuflen: A gritter got stuck on the route. (Source: Friso Gentsch / dpa)

On some railway lines nothing works

In the case of the railway, traffic on the important east-west connection between Berlin via Hanover and the Ruhr area rolled again. “However, restrictions and delays are still to be expected,” it said. Still nothing worked on some connections. From Dresden there were no long-distance trains in the direction of Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hanover and Cologne on Tuesday until further notice, as the railway announced on its website. No long-distance trains rolled between Hamburg and Kiel, between Hamburg and Lübeck, and between Hamburg and Westerland on Sylt.

Recovery of a snow vehicle: The police had warned of long traffic jams again for the A2, but it remained largely quiet. (Source: Friso Gentsch / dpa)

Inland shipping is also affected by the winter weather: the Mittelland Canal and the Elbe Lateral Canal would be closed from Wednesday evening, as the responsible waterways and shipping office in Braunschweig announced. At around 320 kilometers, the Mittelland Canal is the longest artificial waterway in Germany.

Scheuer: Normal condition not yet achieved

Meanwhile, aid organizations stepped up their efforts for the homeless and in many places provided them with warm food, drinks, clothing, sleeping clothes and hygiene items. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbates the situation of the needy, as it was called by the Diakonie, the welfare association of the Protestant churches.

Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer continues to expect adverse effects from the extreme winter weather. The CSU politician told the German Press Agency on Tuesday: “In many regions of Germany the situation is gradually beginning to calm down. It may take some time before everything goes back to normal.

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