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WEATHER

Flights disrupted at Frankfurt airport after severe thunderstorms

Torrential rain and thunderstorms battered central and southern Germany on Wednesday night, causing widespread transport disruption and flooding at Frankfurt airport.

Published: 17 August 2023 11:56 CEST
Lightning and thunder in the Frankfurt district of Sachsenhausen.
Lightning and thunder in the Frankfurt district of Sachsenhausen. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Arne Dedert

A major storm caused severe flooding in several parts of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia on Wednesday night, bringing public transport and flights to a standstill in the Frankfurt area.

Between 8 pm and 11 pm in the evening, Hesse was hit by flash floods, with around 60 litres of rainfall per square metre in the state capital of Frankfurt.

In nearby Raunheim, about 58 litres per square metre fell within two hours, while Griesheim was hit by 50 litres of rainfall per square metre and ferocious gusts of winds that reached speeds of around 80km per hour.

In some regions that were particularly hard-hit by the floods, around 50 litres of rainfall fell within just 20-30 minutes. 

The Rhine-Main also saw an unprecedented amount of lightning during the storm, with meteorologists recording 25,289 lightning flashes in a single hour between 8:40 and 9:40 pm.

By comparison, 11,566 lightning bolts were measured throughout Hesse in the entire year of 2022.

READ ALSO: German word of the day: Platzregen

90 flight cancellations

The heavy thunderstorms wreaked havoc at Frankfurt airport, with many passengers unable to leave their planes after landing due to the floods.

According to reports in Tagesschau, passengers returning from Athens on a flight that landed at 8:30 pm were unable to exit until around 11 pm. 

The airport was also forced to suspend ground handling entirely for two hours due to the storm, meaning 34 flights were unable to take off at the scheduled time. 

The airport said it was forced to axe 90 flights while 23 more were rerouted to land at other airports, affecting thousands of passengers.

Some passengers slept on camp beds while many spent the night at the airport hotel.

“Today, the situation will probably stabilise again,” a spokesman told AFP. “There are still passengers here who need to be booked onto new flights.”

However, due to the disruption on Wednesday, the airport said further delays and backlogs could be expected on Thursday.

“Yesterday’s weather conditions will proceed to affect today’s flight schedule,” the airport cautioned on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Due to increased passenger volume, we advise all passengers to arrive at the airport 2.5 hours before their flight time.”

Frankfurt’s public transport was also disrupted by the extreme weather, with many underground trains, suburban trains and trams pausing their operations due to safety concerns. 

In the district of Sachsenhausen, water penetrated the Südbahnhof, causing several underground lines to be suspended until Thursday morning.

READ ALSO: Germany to see ‘extreme heat’ and thunderstorms in coming week

Submerged vehicles 

The fire service in Germany’s financial capital said they launched over 500 operations from late Wednesday to early Thursday related to the storm.

There were more than 350 instances of water flooding into buildings and 17 fallen trees, they said, adding that off-duty personnel were called in to help.

The storm also affected other areas, with residents of Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia experiencing heavy flooding. 

Streets, cellars and lower-lying residential areas were rapidly overwhelmed with water, while trees toppled over, hitting vehicles, the fire service said.

Emergency services pump water out of a flooded street in Essen.

Emergency services pump water out of a flooded street in Essen. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Weber

Emergency service workers rescued people from vehicles at several highway underpasses.

In one area, parked vehicles became submerged and some streets were only passable with inflatable boats.

Experts say that climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of floods.

In 2021, Germany’s western regions of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia were hit by catastrophic flash floods that killed over 180 people.

Work to rebuild infrastructure in the damaged regions continues to this day. 

READ ALSO: How flash floods left a trail of destruction in western Germany

More storms expected

On Thursday, the German Weather Service predicts highs of between 22C and 29C and the potential of more thunderstorms.

Going into the weekend, the weather will be hot and muggy, with temperatures of up to 35C in the south and up to 30C in the north.

Saturday could bring more strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy rainstorms, which are likely to subside in most regions of the country on Sunday, leaving relatively sunny and dry weather in its wake. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

The EU's new Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport controls is due to come into force later this year, but among many questions that remain is the situation for non-EU nationals who live in the EU or Schengen zone.

Published: 27 April 2024 07:59 CEST
Reader question: What will EES mean for foreigners living in Europe?

Currently scheduled to start in autumn 2024 (unless it’s delayed again, which is not unlikely) the EU’s new Entry & Exit System is basically an enhanced passport check at external EU borders, including a facial scan and fingerprinting.

You can find a full explanation of the new system HERE.

Travellers crossing an external EU or Schengen border for the first time will be required to complete EES ‘pre-registration’ formalities including that facial scan and fingerprinting.

There are, however, several groups exempt from EES and one of them is non-EU nationals who have a residency permit or long-stay visa for an EU country.

So if you’re a foreigner living in the EU or Schengen zone, here’s what you need to know.

Exempt

One of the stated aims of EES is to tighten up enforcement of over-staying – IE, people who stay longer than 90 days in every 180 without a visa, or those who overstay the limits of their visa.

Obviously these limits do not apply to non-EU nationals who are resident in the EU or Schengen zone, which is why this group is exempt from EES checks. They will instead be required to show their passport and residency permit/visa when crossing a border, just as they do now.

In its explanations of how EES will work, the European Commission is clear – exempt groups include non-EU residents of the Bloc.

A Commission spokesman told The Local: “Non-EU citizens residing in the EU are not in the scope of the EES and will not be subject to pre-enrollment of data in the EES via self-service systems. The use of automation remains under the responsibility of the Member States and its availability in border crossing points is not mandatory.

“When crossing the borders, holders of EU residence permits should be able to present to the border authorities their valid travel documents and residence permits.”

How this will work

How this will work on the ground, however, is a lot less clear.

Most ports/airports/terminals have two passport queues – EU and non-EU. It remains unclear whether the non-EU queue will have a separate section for those who are exempt from EES.

It does seem clear that exempt groups will not be able to use the automated passport scanners – since those cannot scan additional documents like residency permits – but should instead use manned passport booths. However it is not clear whether these will be available at all airports/ports/terminals or how non-EU residents of the EU will be directed to those services.

There’s also the issue that individual border guards are not always clear on the processes and rules for non-EU residents of the EU – even under the current system it’s relatively commonly for EU residents to have their passports incorrectly stamped or be given incorrect information about passport stamping by border guards.

Brits in particular will remember the immediate post-Brexit period when the processes as described by the EU and national authorities frequently did not match what was happening on the ground.

The Local will continue to try and get answers on these questions. 

READ ALSO What will EES mean for dual nationals

What if I live in the EU but I don’t have a visa/residency permit?

For most non-EU citizens, having either a visa or a residency permit is obligatory in order to be legally resident.

However, there is one exception: UK citizens who were legally resident in the EU prior to the end of the Brexit transition period and who live in one of the “declaratory” countries where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory. Declaratory countries include Germany and Italy.

Although it is legal for people in this situation to live in those countries without a residency permit, authorities already advise people to get one in order to avoid confusion/hassle/delays at the border. Although EES does not change any rules relating to residency or travel, it seems likely that it will be more hassle to travel without a residency card than it is now.

Our advice? Things are going to be chaotic enough, getting a residency permit seems likely to save you a considerable amount of hassle.

Delays 

Although residents of the EU do not need to complete EES formalities, they will be affected if the new system causes long queues or delays at the border.

Several countries have expressed worries about this, with the UK-France border a particular cause for concern.

READ ALSO Travellers could face ’14 hours queues’ at UK-France border

Where does it apply?

EES is about external EU/Schengen borders, so does not apply if you are travelling within the Schengen zone – eg taking the train from France to Germany or flying from Spain to Sweden.

Ireland and Cyprus, despite being in the EU, are not in the Schengen zone so will not be using EES, they will continue to stamp passports manually.

Norway, Switzerland and Iceland – countries that are in the Schengen zone but not in the EU – will be using EES.

The full list of countries using EES is: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Therefore a journey between any of the countries listed above will not be covered by EES.

However a journey in or out of any of those countries from a country not listed above will be covered by EES.

You can find our full Q&A on EES HERE.

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