BERLIN (AP) – Heavy snowfalls in Germany caused more severe traffic disruptions on Tuesday, including a 37-km (23-mile) traffic jam in which hundreds of cars and trucks were stuck on a highway for hours in sub-zero temperatures.
Hundreds of vehicles were stuck on the A2 motorway in western Germany all night in that traffic jam, Bielefeld police said early Tuesday. Rescuers went from car to car distributing blankets and hot drinks, reported the German news agency dpa.
Congestion due to snowfall and icy roads have also been reported in the eastern state of Brandenburg and the central German state of Hesse. The train service was also partially canceled in several regions and the snow cleaners worked continuously to release traces of ice and snow.
The country’s transport minister asked the Germans to stay home and avoid traveling.
“When conditions are extreme, even the best runway warming and the best snow plow can reach its limits,” said Andreas Scheuer.
Snow also affected Dortmund’s regional airport in western Germany, where all flights were canceled or redirected to other airports until Thursday at 6 am.
More snow was forecast for northern Germany on Tuesday, especially for Schleswig-Hollstein, reported the German Weather Service DWD.
Parts of central and northern Europe, as well as Britain, have been dominated by a cold climate since the weekend that the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, the Dutch national weather service, dubbed Storm Darcy.
In the neighboring Czech Republic, trucks formed lines of kilometers long on the D8 highway that connects the capital of Prague to Germany. Traffic was stopped after Czech and German authorities closed the tunnels on both sides of the border and the border crossing during the night due to bad weather.
Meanwhile, people in Prague enjoyed the best snow conditions in a decade for cross-country skiing on Prague’s famous Charles Bridge and the picturesque Little Quarter.
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This story has been corrected to show that it was the Dutch national weather service, not the UK meteorologists, who named Storm Darcy.