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Flights cancelled and trains disrupted after heavy snowfall in Munich

Munich airport reopened on Sunday after Saturday's heavy snowfall, but hundreds of flights have been cancelled and there are still no trains leaving the Bavarian city's main station.

Published: 3 December 2023 11:54 CET
This 2021 file photo shows a man in high-visibility clothing walking over snow-covered railtracks in a freight railway yard in Munich.
This 2021 file photo shows a man in high-visibility clothing walking over snow-covered railtracks in a freight railway yard in Munich. Heavy snowfall in the city caused trains, flights and roads to grind to a halt on Saturday. / AFP / Christof STACHE

Munich airport said on its website that flights were able to resume from 6am on Sunday, but some 560 of around 880 scheduled flights have been cancelled, a spokesperson told German news agency DPA. 

The temporary stop to flights on Saturday impacted take-offs and landings at other airports, too.

Anyone due to fly on Sunday should check the status of their flight before travelling.

More than 40 centimetres of snow fell on Saturday, German weather services said, bringing trains in Munich and wider Bavaria to a stop.

READ ALSO: Heavy snow paralyses parts of southern Germany

No trains

Munich main station is expected to remain closed until at least 10am on Sunday, operator Deutsche Bahn said, asking travellers to postpone any non-urgent trips.

The railway wants to get trains up and running again as soon as possible, but this will only be on a few routes in the first instance and there will be fewer trains than normal, a spokesperson told DPA.

Travellers are still likely to face massive disruptions until at least Monday due to damaged infrastructure.

However, transport authorities said that bus, tram and suburban train services in Munich should resume on Sunday.

Traffic returned to normal on the roads in Bavaria overnight, however, with authorities only reporting minor incidents.

“A few trees fell down, but this only caused accidents with car body damage” a spokesman for the Upper Bavaria South police told DPA.

And in Lower Bavaria, a spokesperson said the number of accidents was also “typical for the time of year”.

The police said the night was similarly quiet on the streets in northern Upper Bavaria and Swabia.

Freezing temperatures 

The wintry weather didn’t just affect Bavaria either. The weather also impacted road travel in parts of northern Germany with one car in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern coming off a snow-covered road and hitting a tree. The driver and one passenger were seriously injured.

Further snowfall is not expected in most of Bavaria on Sunday, but the Eastern Central Uplands and the Alps may see several centimetres of fresh snow.

Forecasters are predicting lows of -6C to -9C on Sunday.

South of the Danube, temperatures could sink as low as -10C to -15C in some areas.

It’s set to remain cold on Monday and Tuesday with only sporadic snowfall.

It’s a similar picture for other parts of Germany, too: occasional snowfall is expected in Lower Saxony, on the North Sea coast and between the Ore Mountains and the Harz Mountains on Sunday.

On Monday, it’s forecast to turn to rain in those areas, but it should remain dry from Berlin to southern Bavaria.

 
 

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TRAIN TRAVEL

Which German train routes are affected by France arson attacks?

A series of coordinated arson attacks have paralysed the French rail network on the opening day of the Olympics. Here's how passengers in Germany are affected.

Published: 26 July 2024 13:19 CEST
Which German train routes are affected by France arson attacks?

France’s high-speed rail network was hit by a series of “connected” arson attacks on Friday that severely disrupted the transport system hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.

Some 800,000 passengers have been affected, train operator SNCF revealed.

“This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network,” SNCF told AFP, adding that many routes would have to be cancelled and the situation would last, “at least all weekend while repairs are conducted”.

The attacks not only affect those travelling to Paris for the Olympics, but also Parisian holidaymakers trying to leave the city on one of the busiest summer weekends. 

In Germany, the impact has also been felt on cross-border routes in the southwestern states of Rhineland Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. 

READ ALSO: What are my rights if a train is delayed or cancelled in Germany?

Speaking to SWR on Friday, a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson revealed that all express train connections from Germany to France had also been badly affected.

DB is in “close dialogue” with their French colleagues at SNCF, they added. 

Here are the lines affected as of early afternoon on Friday: 

Stuttgart – Karlsruhe – Paris: The ICE and TGV connections between Stuttgart and Paris via Karlsruhe are severely delayed. Travellers can currently expect delays of up to one hour. According to Deutsche Bahn’s traffic information, at least two connections between Stuttgart and Paris are cancelled.
Mannheim – Karlsruhe – Paris: The connections here are significantly delayed.
Mannheim – Kaiserslautern – Paris: According to Deutsche Bahn, this TGV and ICE connection will be completely cancelled on Friday.

According to Deutsche Bahn, there are delays and cancellations on these western routes because the trains in France will have to be rerouted large distances. However, the rail operator doesn’t expect there to be a major impact on other domestic routes in Germany.

Passengers affected can stay updated by keeping an eye on the Deutsche Bahn website and anyone with a ticket between Germany and France due to travel today can rebook free of charge. 

Could similar attacks happen in Germany?

That’s the opinion of Germany’s leading intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BV), who released a statement on Friday warning of heightened threats.

According to the BV, there is a “serious risk” of attacks on critical infrastructure in Germany at present, both from hostile states and from terrorist groups.

READ ALSO: How prepared is Germany in the event of a military attack?

Recent threat analyses have shown that there are numerous vulnerabilities that could serve as gateways for attacks, BV warned. Foreign intelligence services would be well-placed to exploit these in order to carry out acts of sabotage in Germany.

While threats from hostile actors are nothing new, the risk level has increased in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in 2022.

Since then, there has been a significant uptick in the number of attacks – and attempted attacks – carried out in Europe and on German soil. 

For more information and the latest on the France attacks, check out our coverage on The Local France:

READ ALSO: Which services are affected by arson attacks on France’s train network?

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