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WEATHER

Austria army rescues snowbound German students

Austrian troops airlifted a group of German students stranded at a snowbound ski resort on Friday, as emergency services scrambled to clear record snowfall across large parts of the country.

Austria army rescues snowbound German students
Emergency workers clear heavy snowfall on Friday. Photo: DPA
The army said it used two helicopters to transport the group of 66 pupils and teachers from the central ski station of Kasberg in Gruenau. It had been cut off for days due to the heavy snowfall covering much of the west and centre of the country.
 
The group, from Dortmund in western Germany, arrived there last Saturday, but the station was forced to shut a few days ago due to the risk of avalanches, falling trees and power blackouts.
 
Austria has been hit by record snowfall for more than a week. Many roads have been impassable because of a lack of the road salt needed to grit them.
 
A break in the weather enabled soldiers, firefighters, other public employees and volunteers to clear some of the snow on Friday, but more is expected at the weekend.
 
Some 500 soldiers have been drafted in to clear roads and roofs in the most heavily affected areas, and a further 1,000 soldiers are on standby, the government said.
 
Much of the country is on its highest avalanche alert level, with seven skiers and snowshoe hikers having died since Saturday and two hikers missing. Most of the victims perished in avalanches but emergency services say two of them died when falling into deep snowdrifts and suffocating.
 
 
The women's World Cup downhill and Super G championships, scheduled to be held in St Anton this weekend, have also been called off.
 
Another resort, Loser, in the central region of Styria, was totally submerged in five metres of snow. 
 
The bad weather has also affected the south of Germany, where the army has also been called in to help. 
 
A number of motorists were trapped in their cars overnight on the A8 motorway to the south-east of Munich and 90 flights were grounded at Munich airport on Friday.
 
A nine-year-old boy was killed on Thursday by a tree that collapsed under the weight of the snow. 

WEATHER

Severe weather warnings issued as Germany braces for more storms

Extreme weather warnings for heavy rainfall remain in place in parts of Germany on Friday following flooding in the south. There is also a chance of thunderstorms at the weekend.

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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