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Travel chaos reigns at Frankfurt airport

Frankfurt airport, Germany's busiest, cancelled some 490 flights Sunday due to heavy snowfall, and Lufthansa is advising people booked on domestic flights to exchange their tickets for rail tickets.

Published: 19 December 2010 11:15 CET

Travel chaos reigns at Frankfurt airport

Photo: DPA

“Fresh snow is expected to fall around midday and could continue until midnight,” a spokesman for the airport said, predicting further flights from the around 1,300 scheduled to be axed during the course of the day.

Germany’s biggest airline Lufthansa is advising passengers on domestic German flights to find an alternative means of travel. “In view of the extraordinary situation, Lufthansa electronic flight tickets can be exchanged easily for Deutsche Bahn rail travel vouchers at the customer-operated check-in terminals,” the airline said in a statement.

“Passengers affected by flight cancellations should contact the dedicated Lufthansa Call Center set up specially for the purpose. The free phone number to call from Germany is: 0800 850 60 70,” it added.

Hundreds of stranded passengers had to spend the night on beds set up in the airport terminals, some for a second night in a row.

Unusually heavy snowfall had already seen hundreds of flights scrapped Friday and Saturday, including several due to severe winter weather at other European airports, as the holiday travel season got underway.

Flag carrier Lufthansa advised passengers to use the German rail service, which was also hit by delays and cancellations.

AFP/DPA/bk

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Severe weather warnings issued as Germany braces for more storms

Severe weather is expected in the southwest of the country on Friday, with the heaviest rain expected in Saarbrücken, as well as the surrounding areas of Saarland and southern Rhineland-Palatinate.

In these areas Germany’s weather service (DWD) has level 4 warnings in place – meaning that the rain is expected to be extremely heavy (more than 40 litres per square metre in an hour, or 60 litres per square metre in 6 hours).

Slightly less severe, but still heavy continuous rain can also be expected in the surrounding regions, extending as far as Stuttgart and Mainz.

Speaking to Bild newspaper, Climatologist Dr. Karsten Brandt suggested that the heavy precipitation and thunderstorms will continue to move northwest, even into southern North-Rhine Westphalia (Aachen).

There are also wind warnings in parts of the country, with squalls expected on the Brocken and the Fichtelberg mountains, as well as in the Black Forest and in the Alps.

Currently, the highest wind warnings are in Dresden and southern Bavaria near the Alps.

Friday’s weather warnings come in the wake of chaotic weather that flooded Nuremberg and parts of Bavaria Thursday night, where many roads flooded. Cars were submerged in water and bus routes were cancelled.

A number of household cellars also flooded as well as a large underground car park at the Technical University.

READ ALSO: Record heat deaths and floods – How Germany is being hit by climate change

What will the weekend bring?

Beyond the area of severe weather warnings but not beyond the reach of the storm, Cologne will have some rain on Friday which may continue on through the weekend.

Germany’s northern and eastern regions have dodged the recent bout of storms so far, but in Berlin scattered thunderstorms can be expected to move in by Sunday afternoon. This may put a dampener on the Karneval der Kulturen parade.

In Bremen and Hamburg, residents can expect some rain showers on Sunday and Monday, with a chance of thunderstorms as well.

In Munich and Nuremberg, it looks as if the worst is over. Some small showers may continue into Saturday, but Bavarian residents can look forward to a sunny Sunday ahead of the public holiday on Monday for Pentecost.

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