Wind gusts felled trees and street signs, though damages were not as severe as initially feared, police said on Friday morning.
In the north high seas forced authorities to temporarily close the Fehmarn Sound Bridge, which connects the island of Fehmarn with the mainland over the Baltic Sea.
Nearby a heavily loaded fishing boat capsized. The captain, who was alone on board, was rescued from the water.
Other parts of the country saw their first taste of winter for the year, with six centimetres of snow falling on North Rhine-Westphalia’s famous Kahler Asten peak.
“It looks like the dead of winter here,” said weather observer Klaus Pätschlack.
In the nearby Ebbe Mountains numerous trucks were stranded on icy roads, police said.
Meanwhile Karneval kick-off festivities in Cologne and elsewhere in the Rhineland were cut short due to high winds.
The St. Martin’s Day procession was also cancelled in Aachen, police said.
Streets in Essen flooded with water, but no accidents were reported.
The states of Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia also reported high winds. Near Hannover a tree fell on a passing auto, barely missing the driver, who was uninjured.
Wind gusts in Saarland repeatedly triggered car alarms overnight, police said.
Click here for The Local’s weather forecast.
DPA/ka
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