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WEATHER

IN PICTURES: Giant hailstones hit Munich as storms continue across Germany

Hailstones as big as tennis balls hammered the Munich area on Monday as a series of thunderstorms lashed parts of Germany.

IN PICTURES: Giant hailstones hit Munich as storms continue across Germany
The hail caused damage to shop fronts, buildings and cars in Munich and the surrounding area. Photo: DPA

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Several people were injured, including a seven-year-old, during a hailstorm in the southern German state of Bavaria on Monday.

Houses and cars were damaged by the hail, which meteorologists said were about six centimetres in size. Locals took to social networking sites to post videos and pictures of the extreme weather.

It came during a day of torrential rain and storms across Germany which caused flooding and disruption during the public holiday.

WATCH: Tornado rips through western German city

A house damaged by the hailstones in Germering, on the outskirts of Munich. Photo: DPA

Locals spoke of their shock at the extreme weather. Roberto De Angelis told broadcaster BR24: “I've never experienced anything like it before.”

In Bavaria, winds of up to 120km/h were recorded, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

Several car windows were broken by the hailstones. Meanwhile, houses were submerged in water as torrential rain fell.

Emergency teams were called out on 550 operations in Munich alone, DPA reported.

According to rail operator Deutsche Bahn, fallen trees on the tracks between Landshut and Munich caused restrictions to rail traffic, however, trains were able to detour.

There were some delays in freight traffic between Berlin and Dresden.

Eastern Germany also hit by storms

The east German state of Saxony was also severely affected by the storms. In the south of the region, 30 to 50 litres of rain fell per hour, the DWD said. The weather service also registered hailstones with a diameter of up to four centimetres.

Lightning in Dresden, Saxony. Photo: DPA

The police reported several flooded streets in the Erzgebirgskreis. The responsible police department in Chemnitz reported that these roads were not passable.

The DWD said the situation was better in parts of northern Germany. In the districts of Oldenburg and Bremen, however, there was also heavy rain.

In North Rhine-Westphalia it was rather quiet compared to the east and south. But in Mönchengladbach there was localized flooding; streets overflowed with water and cellars were flooded due to the rain.

Meanwhile, a large forest fire on a former military training area near Jüterbog in Brandenburg was extinguished.  Task forces had been fighting the fire for several days.

Lightning over Berlin. Photo: DPA

More storms expected

According to the DWD, there could be more thunderstorms on Tuesday, especially in a strip from the eastern edge of the Alps to the Baltic Sea.

The large nationwide differences in temperature remain: temperatures in the southeast and east are expected to be between 25 and 32C, while in the central part and north of Germany it should be noticeably cooler at 21 to 25C. In the west and southwest, the mercury is expected to reach just 16 to 20C.

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FLOODS

German communities brace for flooding as water levels continue to rise

Water levels on the Elbe and Oder rivers in Germany are rising, sparking preparations for floods as the clean-up across central Europe gets underway.

German communities brace for flooding as water levels continue to rise

As several countries in Europe face the devastating aftermath of severe flooding following torrential rain, communities in some regions of Germany are trying to manage rising water levels. 

According to a forecast by the state flood centre, the water on the Elbe river has not yet reached expected peaks. In the city of Dresden, the Elbe rose above the six-metre mark on Wednesday. There, as well as in Schöna on the border with the Czech Republic, the flood peak is expected on Thursday.

There is a cautious all-clear along other rivers in the east and south of Germany. Further north, however, Brandenburg is looking anxiously at the Oder river, which is expected to bring more water in the coming days.

READ ALSO: Parts of Germany hit by flooding as torrential rain wreaks havoc across central Europe

Flood crisis teams are due to meet in Frankfurt (Oder), located at the border with Poland, and other municipalities in Brandenburg on Thursday. A level 1 flood alert was issued for sections of the river on Wednesday.

According to the State Office for the Environment, floodplains and meadows close to the banks are expected to start flooding, with the areas of the Oder village of Ratzdorf to Eisenhüttenstadt particularly affected.

The state office believes the highest alert level – level 4 – with a water level of around six metres will be reached in the next few days near Ratzdorf, where the Oder reaches Brandenburg territory.

Clean-up work underway in central and eastern Europe

In the flood-hit areas from Poland to the Czech Republic and Austria, the clean-up work has now begun, but the situation is only slowly easing.

In many places, the emergency services are still struggling with masses of water. Soldiers are also providing support in Poland and the Czech Republic. However, the authorities are not yet giving the all-clear. So far, more than 20 people have tragically lost their lives in the region due to the extreme weather.

In the Polish city of Wroclaw in the west of the country, the flood wave was not expected until Thursday night. As several tributaries that also carry a lot of water flow into the Oder between Olawa and Wroclaw, the possibility of flooding in the Lower Silesian metropolis cannot be ruled out, said an expert.

Flooding in Bresgau Poland

A drone captures the high water levels in Bresgau, Poland, on September 19th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/PAP | Maciej Kulczynski

Flood defences in Wroclaw have been reinforced as a precautionary measure. One third of the city of 630,000 inhabitants was flooded during the Oder flood in 1997.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to visit Poland on Thursday afternoon. According to the EU Commission, the trip is being organised at the invitation of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, his Slovakian counterpart Robert Fico and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer are also expected to attend the meeting.

The talks are likely to focus on the question of funds from Brussels for reconstruction although the extent of the damage is still unclear.

With reporting from DPA

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