Weather: This is how Germany starts the coming week – avalanche disaster in Tyrol

Thaw and rain are causing water levels to rise further in the southern half of Germany. In many places, the first high water marks were exceeded at the weekend, and shipping was suspended on some routes. In the coming days, milder air will prevail from the southwest, which will bring further precipitation, said a DWD meteorologist on Sunday. The onset of winter had caused some problems in the northern half of Germany on Saturday night. The long-distance traffic of the Deutsche Bahn was temporarily paralyzed in large parts of northern Germany. In cities like Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen it was white.

Because the shipping high water mark II was exceeded at the Maxau and Speyer gauges, shipping at the level of Wörth and Karlsruhe was suspended. Further downstream, between Speyer and Cologne, the high water mark I was exceeded. Ships had to keep a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour and stay in the middle of the fairway if possible.

Above Trier and on the lower Moselle, rising water levels can be expected until Monday morning. Shipping on the Moselle is closed, said a spokeswoman for the General Directorate for Waterways and Shipping in Bonn.

The flood information service of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Environment Agency expected the Rhine level in Cologne to reach a high of 8.5 meters over the course of Tuesday. Then the high water mark II of 8.30 would be exceeded and shipping would have to be stopped. According to the city’s plans, the first high water gates to the old town will be closed at a water level of 8.10 meters.

According to the DWD, Monday should start cloudy and dry in the north. Otherwise rain falls in the west and south-west, from the Münsterland to northeast Bavaria and in higher altitudes snow, locally freezing with black ice. In the night of Tuesday it will remain cloudy or slightly cloudy in the north, partly clear and free of precipitation. Otherwise it will be mostly cloudy or overcast with light rain. From North Rhine-Westphalia to Brandenburg and Saxony, snow or freezing rain can be slippery.

In Austria and Switzerland, the snow masses again became particularly dangerous at the weekend. A German teenager and an Austrian died in two avalanches in Tyrol. The avalanches broke off on Saturday in Kühtai and Axamer Lizum, as the police reported. The avalanche warning service in Tyrol reported a total of seven avalanches in which people were affected. Apart from the two fatal accidents, no one was injured. However, there was “considerable avalanche danger”, level three on the five-point scale. According to the police, the German victim is a 16-year-old native of Munich who lived in Innsbruck.

–