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STORM

Storms cause death, floods and flight delays

A storm ripped through North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse and Saxony on Thursday night causing flight delays, floods and at least one death.

Published: 11 July 2014 10:17 CEST
Storms cause death, floods and flight delays
Floods in Mühlau, Saxony. Photo: DPA

In North Rhine-Westphalia a man in Geldern near Düsseldorf died when a falling branch hit his vehicle.

Frankfurt Airport was forced to close for an hour on Thursday evening. Over 2,000 passengers were accommodated in hotels after 55 take-offs and 36 landings were cancelled. Dozens of flights were delayed until after 11.00pm. Flight schedules have since returned to normal.

The storm pounded the central state of Hesse where police reported a slew of accidents on main roads. Traffic slowed to a halt on Autobahn 66 near Wiesbaden. A fire truck collided with a car while responding to a call and the vehicle's driver had to be taken to the hospital. No firefighters were injured.

Heavy rains have resulted in floods throughout the region. A subway station in Cologne was completely filled with water, and in north-west Thuringia homes were flooded. In Gießen, a bank alarm was set off by heavy flooding.

In Lower Saxony, police and fire fighters responded to over 150 calls between the hours of 7pm and 11pm on Thursday. A regional train in Ostercappeln carrying 150 passengers was halted due to the storm, and was eventually towed by a diesel train. In Bad Rothenfeld a tornado uprooted several trees.

In Saxony, police also said dozens of streets were flooded causing road accidents. 

On Friday morning the German Weather Service (DWD) issued a weather alert through to Saturday morning.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to develop throughout Friday in the west, south-west and centre of the country and will be characterized by heavy rains, strong gusts of wind and hailstones of up to two centimetres in diameter.

SEE ALSO: Storms cause €650 million of damage

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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.

Published: 26 April 2024 16:56 CEST
'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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