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WEATHER

Icy road conditions create chaos and kill 7

Extremely icy streets caused hundreds traffic accidents, several severe injuries and even seven deaths across Germany during rush hour traffic, police reported on Monday.

Icy road conditions create chaos and kill 7
Photo: DPA

The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania saw the most accidents.

In Rheinfelden in the state of Baden-Württemberg, a 64-year-old man on a motor scooter died after wrecking on a steep and icy street. In Schwörstadt a 37-year-old Swiss man sustained serious injuries when he skidded into a steel guardrail, which broke and bored through his windshield.

Meanwhile two young drivers in Griesingen in Baden-Württemberg hit head on at high speed, leaving an 18-year-old and her 20-year-old friend with life-threatening injuries. More than 20 other people were seriously injured after more than 250 accidents on the state’s slippery streets.

An Altenkirchen mother and her 10-year-old daughter died in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate when a 22-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle while passing the pair. Their car crashed into several trees and the child was thrown through the windshield and died later in the hospital, police said. Her mother died on the scene and the other driver and his female passenger were seriously injured. Police said they responded more than 100 other accidents in the area.

Several other tree collisions were reported across the country, including Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania where two people died after hitting trees.

A 78-year-old driver died in the state of Saxony after he collided with a large truck near Böhlen.

Another driver died in on the A9 motorway in the state of Saxony-Anhalt also hit truck, critically injuring his passenger.

In Hamburg fire department workers had to free an injured woman from from her car after an accident. Police responded to at least 100 ice-related accidents in the states of Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, though most were without injury.

A 24-year-old Bavarian man had to swim to safety after an icy street landed him in the nearby Vils river, police said, adding he’d been driving too fast.

In Hesse some 17 people were injured while driving in similar conditions.

Click here for The Local’s weather forecast.

WEATHER

‘Turbo spring’: Germany to see temperatures above 25C

Germany is set for a blast of warm weather in the coming week as the colder spell eases off.

'Turbo spring': Germany to see temperatures above 25C

“The late winter weather of the past few days with frost and snow is a thing of the past for the time being, and spring will kick into turbo gear over the next few days,” said meteorologist Adrian Leyser from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Friday.

Temperatures are expected to rise sharply over the weekend with plenty of sunshine, forecasters said. In Germany anything above 25C is classed as a summer day. “The summer mark of 25C will be cracked regionally as early as Sunday,” said Leyser.

It comes as snow and hail hit Germany last week, and temperatures fell below freezing in some places.

But showers and thunderstorms are still possible in the west and north of Germany. Maximum temperatures there are expected to reach around 20C. 

According to the DWD, spring will get a little damper on Monday, with a few rain spells.  “However, the next low pressure system over Western Europe is preparing to turn on the warm air jet again from Tuesday,” said the meteorologist.

On Wednesday – which is a public holiday across Germany for International Workers’ Day – temperatures could soar nearer 30C. 

“In the south and east, we are even approaching the 30C mark,” said Leyser. However, the weather will remain “susceptible to disruption”, said Leyser, especially in the west where there is a risk of isolated and sometimes severe thunderstorms.

READ ALSO: What to do on May 1st in Germany

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