All the cancelled flights listed on Lufthansa’s website were domestic or within Europe, with most scheduled in the afternoon and evening.

A spokesman for airport operator Fraport said that snow had been forecast in Frankfurt between 12 noon and 8pm. He said that would likely mean de-icing would be necessary, and flights would be delayed.

But he added that the dramatic situation of last Sunday, when all of Frankfurt’s air traffic had to be shut down for two hours, would not be repeated.

Click here for The Local’s weather forecast

Meanwhile, Hamburg’s road-salting services were forced into a massive operation on Saturday night as snow showers caused extremely slippery conditions on the roads. Around 110 gritting trucks were called into action just after 8pm on Saturday evening, Reinhard Fiedler of the city cleaning department reported.

A further 270 vehicles were sent out at 4am, as temperatures of -3C caused icy conditions. Warm fronts moving in from the West meant that more precipitation was expected throughout Sunday.

The Local/DAPD/bk