Blocked roads, avalanches and helpers in continuous operation: Heavy snowfall kept people in the alpine regions of Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland in suspense for two weeks. Now, a relaxation of the situation seems to be announced.

On Tuesday, according to meteorologists, the snow should end. By the afternoon, the German Weather Service (DWD) expects only about five centimeters of fresh snow in the Bavarian Alps after it has fallen since Saturday night up to a meter of snow. However, the fresh snow is still partly blown strong, they said. In addition, even in the night of Wednesday threatened in many places smoothness by snow, slush, frozen wet or ripe. Heavy weight still weighs heavily on trees and buildings due to the snow.

In the following days, according to forecasts, no further snowfall is imminent. "This looks like sustainable relaxation," said Thomas Wostal of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) in Vienna.

"For winter athletes, however, it remains tricky"

The end of the snowfall will make it possible to make necessary avalanche blasts, it said. After that, many roadblocks are likely to be lifted. The municipality of Lech am Arlberg expects this decision at the latest in the evening. According to information from the tourist office, 5000 guests are currently in town, waiting for better weather. On Monday, more than 180 streets were closed throughout Austria. In the province of Salzburg, more than 41,000 people were cut off from the outside world by new roadblocks on Monday evening. Affected was, among other things, the favorite with ski tourists resort Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

In the past two weeks, according to ZAMG, there were regionally three times the amount of snow otherwise usual throughout January. In Tyrol, almost four and a half meters of snow fell locally. The meteorologists count on many mountains with current snow depths between three and five, sometimes with six meters.

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Snow masses in Bavaria and Austria: white and dangerous

The avalanche warning level is expected to be lowered on Tuesday. "For winter athletes, however, it remains tricky - on Wednesday, the danger increases again with the warming," said the avalanche warning service Vorarlberg.

On Monday, forces had to move out again to numerous rescue operations. Again and again great avalanches broke off and crashed in the direction of the valley. In Austria, a 47-year-old died while shoveling a roof. A roof avalanche tore him and three other men six meters into the depths.

Thousands of helpers shovel snow from the roofs

An avalanche hit a hotel in Ramsau am Dachstein during the night. According to the police, the 60 guests and employees were able to leave the building unhurt. No one was found in the avalanche cone that had been checked as a precautionary measure. The avalanche moved according to police, however, some cars and caused damage to property. The snow roller had already lost much of its power because of the long flat stretch to the place.

In Bavaria, the forces were required again. An avalanche hit a hotel in the ski resort of Balderschwang on Monday. She pushed windows in - nobody was hurt. The affected spa area of ​​the hotel had been closed on Sunday evening as a precaution.

Thousands of helpers kept shoveling on roofs to bring down the snow load. In five districts in Upper Bavaria, catastrophes are still partly true, and many schools continue to fail. In addition to around 1,500 Bundeswehr soldiers, 230 federal police officers were deployed in the snow-covered areas on Monday. "This is a signal that you simply stand together in such a situation," said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer at the meeting with helpers in Berchtesgaden.

Due to avalanche danger, wind and snow, many ski resorts had to partly and partly completely cease operations. In Germany's highest ski resort on the Zugspitze, the facilities remained closed. In the Oberstdorf and Kleinwalsertal ski resorts, only 48 out of 48 lifts ran on Monday.

In Austria, about half of the approximately 7,000 km of pistes were not passable. As the state of Salzburg announced, in the federal state in the past eight days around 5000 tons of salt were scattered. "That's about a third of the average consumption in a 'normal winter'," said Manfred Brunauer of the state road administration, according to the announcement.