Bavaria: Further restrictions on train traffic – the weather in Germany remains wintry

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Munich's main train station: Waiting and rescheduling is the name of the game for many travellers

Photo: Roland Freund / dpa

The heavy snowfall in Bavaria on the first weekend of Advent continues to have an impact on travellers: Passengers must continue to be prepared for considerable restrictions, especially on trains. Since Sunday, two long-distance routes at Munich Central Station have been served again, but with fewer trains, a DB spokeswoman said.

According to Deutsche Bahn, passengers are asked to check the status of their connection before travel and to postpone non-essential travel to Tuesday or later.

In the districts of Starnberg and Mühldorf am Inn as well as in the city of Augsburg, many schools will remain closed on Monday. In some cases, distance learning is offered. In Augsburg, 20 schools would be temporarily closed completely or partially, the city administration announced. The reason for this is the masses of snow that weigh on the roofs of the buildings. After the snow has thawed, the buildings would have to be checked for their statics.

»Often still permafrosty«

At Munich Airport, flight operations partially resumed on Sunday morning after a closure on Saturday. However, flights continued to be cancelled. In addition, several thousand households, especially in Upper and Lower Bavaria, were still without power on Sunday after trees fell on power lines on Saturday.

After the train cancellations due to the snow chaos in Bavaria, the railway workers' union EVG and the passenger association Pro Bahn are demanding consequences for the winter suitability of the railway. EVG chairman Martin Burkert told the "Augsburger Allgemeine" (Monday) that the German rail infrastructure was "largely dilapidated". There must be major investments along the lines of countries such as Austria.

In large parts of Germany, the wintry weather is likely to continue into the new week. Warm air masses are only to be expected from the west, the German Weather Service (DWD) said on Sunday. This leads to an increased risk of black ice in transition areas.

"Especially to the northeast and southeast, it will probably be difficult to clear away the cold air by the end of next week, so that it will often remain permafrosty there," said a DWD meteorologist. According to the weather forecast, locally freezing rain with black ice is to be expected at the beginning of the week. In the west and southwest, on the other hand, there are signs of a thaw.

The maximum temperatures along the Rhine are expected to be between 1 and 5 degrees, otherwise between minus 3 and 1 degrees. In southern Bavaria it is much colder, with temperatures between minus 8 and minus 4 degrees. On Tuesday night, the DWD expects more than ten centimetres of fresh snow and severe frost in the western and central low mountain ranges. During the day, there should also be fresh snow in the Black Forest from an altitude of 600 meters.

Rain, black ice, storm

Wednesday will also bring freezing rain in the northeast and new snow in the mountains, it said. North of the Ore Mountains and directly on the Alps, on the other hand, it could be sunny. Temperatures range from a maximum of 3 to 6 degrees in the west and around 0 degrees in the northeast.

Thursday will be calm, with isolated stormy gusts in the mountains and on the North Sea islands. On Friday, on the other hand, severe weather is possible again: From Thuringia and Saxony to the Alps and Lake Constance, freezing rain and black ice must be expected.

bbr/dpa