A small storm nicknamed “Klaus” swept over Germany on Thursday, felling trees, injuring pedestrians and bringing trains to a standstill. Meteorologists are predicting that the weather will remain windy and rainy across much of Germany in the coming days. 

Storm Klaus causes accidents, disruption and delays

Storm Klaus broke over Germany on Thursday, with the north and northwest of the country particularly affected, causing train cancellations and delays as trees and other objects were blown onto the tracks and overhead lines became tangled. 

According to the German Weather Service (DWD), Klaus was felt most strongly in the German Bight, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. In the latter federal state there were wind gusts of up to 110 kilometres per hour; in exposed places such as the Bülk Lighthouse in Kiel and the Brocken Peak in the Harz mountains, gusts of up to 134 kilometres per hour were recorded. 

Emergency services were called out to take care of numerous fallen trees and loose building parts. In Bielefeld, an uprooted tree fell on a driver, while in downtown Essen a passerby was hit on the head by a falling roof tile during the storm. 

According to Deutsche Bahn, the stormy conditions were causing disruptions on the routes between Dortmund and Münster, Oldenburg and Leer, Bremen, Hannover and Dresden, and Hannover and Leer. There were also issues reported in parts of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, causing delays of up to an hour on regional transport. 

More stormy weather hitting Germany this weekend

The windy conditions look set to persist throughout Friday as the storm spreads further south. The DWD said gusts of up to 60 to 75 kilometres per hour could be expected in Bavaria, while in the Alpine foothills hurricane-like gusts of up to 110 kilometres per hour are possible. It will remain wet and windy throughout, with the sun barely able to break through the cloud cover. 

According to the DWD, it will also be windy and rainy on the weekend, because Saturday spells the arrival of a new low-pressure weather front, which will bring stormy conditions to the middle and south of the country. The temperature will hover around 10 degrees. 

Frequent rain showers and stormy gusts of wind are also forecast for Sunday - along with some isolated thunderstorms and even some sleet! - although the worst of the weather should subside by the evening. This might be a weekend for drawing the curtains and finding something good to watch on telly...