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Road in Bavaria: danger of black ice

Photo: Pia Bayer / dpa

Temperatures around freezing point led to an increase in icy accidents on Monday evening and Tuesday night. In the Saxon town of Oderwitz in the district of Görlitz, for example, a 28-year-old came off the slippery road with his car on Monday evening. The vehicle crashed into two trees, police said. Accordingly, the man died at the scene of the accident.

The German Weather Service (DWD) had already warned of persistent slippery roads, freezing rain and snowfall in large parts of Germany in recent days. In Saxony, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, about several centimeters of fresh snow are possible, it said.

This was also noticeable in the situation centres of the interior ministries and the police. In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, there has been a significant increase in icy accidents at night, according to a spokeswoman. For example, there have been several traffic accidents on the A1 or the A7 in the north in connection with the weather.

Danger of black ice remains

Several traffic accidents also occurred in Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and the Upper Bavarian district at the beginning of the night. Most of the time, however, according to police spokesmen, these were mild - without injuries, only with property damage.

In the coming days, slippery conditions are expected to remain in many parts of Germany for the time being. The DWD issued further warnings for icy conditions and snowfall for several districts, including the district of Alzey-Worms in Hesse and the regions of Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg.

Storm surge warning for the North Sea coast

In northern Germany, floods and storm surges threaten again on Tuesday. The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) issued a storm surge warning for the North Sea coast during the night. Accordingly, the night or morning high tide on the North Frisian coast will be about one meter higher than the mean high tide. On the East Frisian coast, a high water level of about one to one and a half meters is expected.

In the Weser and Elbe areas, the water is said to be about 1.50 metres higher than the mean high tide. Already on Monday, for example, the flood flooded Hamburg's fish market. According to the police, however, there were no major operations due to the storm surge.

wit/dpa/AFP