The extreme weather continues to sweep over Germany this week, causing numerous closures on the autobahn, accidents and freezing cold temperatures. Last night, temperatures as low as -27 degrees were recorded.
On Tuesday night, continuing into the early hours of Wednesday morning, temperatures plummeted in Germany. Lows as cold as -26,7 Celsius were recorded in Mühlhausen in Thuringia, the German Weather Service (DWD) announced. That's cold, but it is still shy of the Thuringian low record of -30,6 degrees, which was measured on February 2, 1830, in the city of Jena.
Similar chilly temperatures were recorded elsewhere, with the city of Göttingen clocking in -22 degrees and the mercury dropping as low as -27 degrees in the town of Northeim in Lower Saxony. Several towns in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also recorded temperatures lower than -10 degrees. For the first time, the cold weather also began to spread south, as northern Bavaria was hit with temperatures between -15 and -10 degrees.
The city of Hamburg received seven centimetres of snow overnight and, according to meteorologist Frank Böttcher, the snow could continue into the afternoon. In the nearby city of Lübeck, meteorologists are predicting up to 20 centimetres of fresh snow. Snow is also expected in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, up to half a metre in some places.
Despite the tough weather conditions and the chaos on the roads on Monday and Tuesday, traffic flowed relatively easily last night. “The situation is currently relatively relaxed, but that can of course change again due to the weather,” said a spokesperson for the police, commenting that drivers seem to have gotten used to the adverse conditions.
There are still delays and cancellations on German railways. There are no trains currently running from Dresden in the direction of Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hannover and Cologne. There are also no long-distance trains between Hamburg and Kiel, Lübeck and Westerland on Sylt. Significant delays are also plaguing the lines between Hamburg and Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Bremen.
Looking forward, it seems as if the cold weather is not shifting anytime soon. According to DWD meteorologist Jens Bonewitz, a weather front nicknamed "Gisela" will ensure frosty temperatures prevail over the next few days. Low temperatures of up to -20 degrees can be expected overnight, and from Thursday the cold will prevail in southern Germany as well.