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Snow drifts and snowfall continue
Snow chaos in germany: hundreds of motorists stuck on autobahns in minus 10 degree temperatures
09.02.2021 06:37 updated: 09.02.2021 06:37

- 8 comments
- Author martina hunger
Winter continues to have a firm grip on parts of germany and is causing kilometer-long traffic jams on the autobahns. Hundreds of people stuck on the A2 and forced to spend the night in their vehicles. no improvement in the weather in sight for the next few days.
Update, 6.34 a.m. – further severe obstructions for rail travelers
On tuesday morning, commuters in many parts of germany will have to prepare for further restrictions. Snow-clearing and repair crews were on duty for the railroad so that rail traffic on the main lines could be gradually resumed by tuesday evening, the railroad said on monday. Long-distance traffic had previously been completely suspended on several connections on Monday.
Snow chaos continues in Germany

snow chaos in germany continues © samuel golay/dpa

snow chaos in germany continues © francesca agosta/dpa

snow chaos in germany continues © barbara franke/dpa

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federal transport minister andreas scheuer appealed to citizens in the north and center of germany to refrain from traveling at least until wednesday. "in such extreme conditions, even the best soft heating and the best clearing vehicle can reach their limits," the CSU politician told the newspapers of the funke-mediengruppe (tuesday). "we are working on all fronts to get the north-south connections free – so that we can at least travel on a limited basis," he announced on "bild live".
First news: chaos on the roads
Heavy snowfall again caused chaos on many highways in germany in the night to tuesday. On the A2 near bielefeld, drivers and passengers spent the entire night on the road and had to wait out the freezing cold in their cars for twelve hours in some cases. In the meantime, a 37-kilometer-long traffic jam formed there, which stretched all the way to lower saxony – in both directions together, it was even more than 70 kilometers long. "the overall situation is difficult, we are rotating," said a spokesman for the bielefeld police early tuesday morning.
the freeway was closed in both directions after trucks had already become stuck on monday afternoon because of the snow. "but it will take a very long time before the tangle is cleared," said a spokeswoman for the NRW control center during the night. Despite a detour, the traffic jam had hardly shortened in the early hours of the morning.
According to the police, the situation was somewhat less dramatic near Dortmund, where the A2 was also closed. Dozens of trucks got bogged down on the carriageway in the direction of oberhausen on Monday afternoon, even though a ban on trucks over 7.5 tons was in force until 10 p.m. "the police registered 340 violations of the ban there," said the spokeswoman. Emergency services provided warm drinks and blankets for all the stranded vehicles. But that was probably little consolation for most: according to the situation center, the tailback was ten kilometers long at one point, but dissipated during the night.