Summary of the day
Decades of underinvestment in the German railways have been blamed for chaos in parts of Germany after heavy snow led to much of the network grinding to a halt.
There were no takeoffs or landings at Munich airport this morning due to freezing rain. The airport worked to de-ice operating areas.
Deutsche Bahn said rail traffic in southern Germany is expected to be severely affected until Wednesday evening and that massive restrictions are still expected in the greater Munich area.
In the afternoon, Munich airport said there are severe restrictions in air traffic and that the flight schedule is severely reduced due to extreme weather.
Munich airport has reiterated that there are still severe restrictions in air traffic, posting a photo of snow at the airport.
There are still severe restrictions in air traffic. The flight schedule is severely reduced due to the extreme weather conditions. Please contact your airline before traveling to the airport to find out your flight status. Current flight schedule 👇https://t.co/nHHrf6oHJO pic.twitter.com/TCFKpryWLp
— Munich Airport (@MUC_Airport) December 5, 2023
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Flights 'still heavily restricted', Munich airport says
Munich airport has said that flight operations are “still heavily restricted”.
It added:
There are still severe restrictions in air traffic. The flight schedule is severely reduced due to the extreme weather conditions.
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Reader tells of the impact of delays and cancellations
Damien, a reader, writes in that “our train connection from western Austria to Berlin was cancelled on Sunday and we were told by Deutsche Bahn that we would have to wait to Wednesday to get home. After taking five different trains with a total of 1,100km of detours, we finally made it back to Berlin yesterday afternoon”.
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Here are more photos from Germany today.
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Train disruptions continue in southern Germany
Train service disruptions are ongoing in areas of Germany.
“Rail traffic in southern Germany is expected to be severely affected until Wednesday evening. Massive restrictions are still to be expected in the greater Munich area,” Deutsche Bahn said.
“Due to the onset of winter, there are likely to be delays and cancellations of a train in the south of Germany until midweek,” the train operator said.
Even after the resumption of operations on the affected routes, it is likely that only a very limited train service will be possible due to the major weather-related restrictions.
We therefore expect a very high capacity utilisation of the trains and continue to recommend postponing journeys to and from Munich.
Updated
The German Weather Service has shared an updated warning map.
Gebietsweise weiterhin gefrierender Regen. Aktuell vor allem im östlichen Mittelgebirgsraum und in Teilen Mitteldeutschlands Glatteis. Anbei der aktuelle Warnstatus hinsichtlich des Parameters Glätte. Nördlich der region mit Glatteis fällt momentan Schnee./V pic.twitter.com/WLBMF6Tfim
— DWD (@DWD_presse) December 5, 2023
Munich’s airport Christmas and winter market will be closed until Friday, the airport authorities have said, amid continued weather-related disruptions.
The Christmas and Winter Market will be closed until Friday, 8.12.23., and the light rides will not take place. pic.twitter.com/qkuy3trW1Y
— Munich Airport (@MUC_Airport) December 5, 2023
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Scenes this morning from Munich airport, a major hub, as flights were cancelled.
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Arctic weather covered swathes of Russia today, with temperatures in the wilds of Siberia falling to -58C, Reuters reported.
Temperatures in parts of the Sakha Republic, in north-eastern Siberia, went below -55C overnight.
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German travel chaos blamed on lack of investment in railways
Decades of underinvestment in the German railways have been blamed for chaos in parts of the country after heavy snow led to much of the network grinding to a halt.
Snowfall of up to half a metre in Bavaria, southern Germany, led to numerous breakdowns and prompted the cancellation of scores of trains, with signalling systems and electronic information boards frequently malfunctioning.
Across the country, both rail and road passengers were advised to cancel any unnecessary journeys amid the chaos, after Munich’s main station was closed on Saturday and the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) warned that “massive disruptions” would continue into the start of this week.
The head of the Railway and Transport Union, Martin Burkert, said DB was ill-equipped to deal with the weather as a result of years of underinvestment.
“The DB slogan ‘we travel in all weathers’ has lost its credibility,” he told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, calling large parts of Germany’s rail infrastructure “creaking and dilapidated”.
The transport minister, Volker Wissing, of the pro-business FDP, echoed the criticisms, saying the only way to tackle the problems was with a “general overhaul” of the whole network.
“There’s no way round it,” he told German media, calling the breakdowns and lack of punctuality “unsatisfactory”. He added: “This is due to neglect of the infrastructure over decades.”
Here are images from Munich airport this morning, where flights were suspended due to freezing rain.
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Munich airport suspends flights as weather disruptions continue
There are no takeoffs or landings at Munich airport this morning due to freezing rain, the airport said.
In a statement, the airport told travellers:
The operating areas will be de-iced in the first half of the day. The plan is to allow air traffic to resume from midday. However, it can be assumed that the majority of flights will also have to be cancelled during the rest of the day for safety reasons.
The airport had also shut down on Saturday after heavy snowfall.
⚠️Announced freezing rain during the night: air traffic will be suspended until 12 noon on Tuesday, December 5
— Munich Airport (@MUC_Airport) December 4, 2023
On Tuesday, 5.12. there will be no take-offs and landings from the start of operations at 6 a.m. until 12 noon. pic.twitter.com/R8SvSeNqJD
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