Rain, floods, storms: no white Christmas

Storm - Rain, floods, storms: no white Christmas

No sign of a white Christmas: constant rain, storms and flooding dominate the festive season in Bavaria this year. The emergency services were kept busy on Christmas Eve - including dealing with the consequences of storm "Zoltan"

Flood waters rise

In view of heavy rainfall, the flood situation in Bavaria will remain tense over the next few days. Especially in the north and east of Bavaria, river levels continue to rise due to the persistent rain. In some districts, reporting level 3 applies, meaning that the flood information service (HND) is warning of flooding in built-up areas. In some cases, reporting level 4 was also exceeded. Franconia and eastern Bavaria and parts of Swabia are particularly affected.

From Saturday to Sunday, some cellars in Upper Franconia were already flooded and streets were inundated. In Middle and Lower Franconia, emergency services cleared several parking lots, according to the police headquarters. Several roads were closed due to the flooding. In Amberg in Upper Palatinate, emergency services set up a flood bridge in the old town on Sunday due to the high water level of the Vils, as the town announced. There is also a risk of flooding in large parts of the rest of Bavaria. The HND is expecting smaller floods here.

Many operations due to "Zoltan"

Fallen trees, loose roof parts and fallen power lines: Emergency services in Bavaria were called out hundreds of times on Saturday and on Christmas Eve due to the storm "Zoltan". According to the police headquarters, however, there were only minor incidents.

There was no major damage to property or serious injuries. One person was slightly injured in a weather-related car accident when a gust of wind swept a trailer into oncoming traffic near Altomünster (Dachau district).

A father and his son had a Christmas guardian angel in Munich on Saturday: Scaffolding collapsed above them. The father suffered a minor injury to his finger, while his son was unharmed, according to the fire department. The man had been waiting in his car in a parking lot for his son, who was arriving by subway. The storm tore down a scaffold, the poles hit the son and drilled through the man's car. The scaffolding buried three cars underneath it and tore down an overhead streetcar line.

People in Bad Abbach in the district of Kelheim, who wanted to go shopping shortly before Christmas Eve, also felt the effects of the storm: Strong winds had blown off large parts of a supermarket roof and the store remained closed.

No chance of a white Christmas

Christmas in the snow - this has not been the case for years in large parts of Germany and Bavaria. "Christmas feels like always, mild and green, and very windy", according to a statement from the German Weather Service (DWD) on Sunday.

Throughout the day, it will mainly be raindrops instead of snowflakes in Bavaria. According to the DWD, there will only be short breaks in the rain. For the Franconian Forest, the Fichtel Mountains and the Bavarian Forest, the weather service warns of storms caused by continuous rain. According to the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service, the snow line will rise to between 2100 and 2400 meters towards the evening.

It will also remain stormy in Bavaria. Meteorologists are expecting gusts of between 60 and 70 kilometers per hour in the lowlands. At higher altitudes in the Alps and the Bavarian Forest, gale-force winds may occur. It will remain rather rainy and mild in the coming days.

Increased risk of avalanches

Fresh snow and gale-force winds increased the risk of avalanches at higher altitudes in the Bavarian mountains on Christmas Eve. In many places, there was still a considerable avalanche risk above 1500 meters on Sunday, which means level three of five warning levels.

The main problem is drift snow, which is poorly connected to the layers of snow below, according to the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service. The day before, the service, which is based at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, had even reported a level four for high altitudes and thus a great danger. However, the danger should continue to decrease over the next few days with mild temperatures.

Ski resorts still affected by storm

In several ski resorts, skiing operations were also impaired on Christmas Eve due to the strong winds. Several cable cars and lifts, including the cable car to the Zugspitze and the new gondola lift on the Ochsenkopf in the Fichtelgebirge, were out of service. However, the cog railroad to the Zugspitze, which had not been running on Saturday, and the lifts at Sudelfeld near Bayrischzell and in the Spitzingsee area were back in operation.

On Saturday, ski resorts in many places remained temporarily closed during "Zoltan's" storms, for example on the Zugspitze, at Sudelfeld and in the Spitzingsee area. In Munich, several Christmas markets had to change their opening hours. The Munich Building Department warned against entering parks and green spaces. Nymphenburg Palace Park remained closed until Christmas Eve for safety reasons.

Christmas peace on the streets

The Christmas travel wave rolled on for two days - on Christmas Eve, however, it remained quiet on the roads. On Germany's highways, "Christmas peace has returned", an ADAC spokeswoman announced on Sunday. "There were no major traffic jams nationwide until midday."

Just in time for Christmas Eve, there was good news for rail travelers in Bavaria: "Travel is moving," said a Deutsche Bahn spokeswoman on Sunday. After storm "Zoltan" caused closures, delays and train cancellations, there were no restrictions on the rail routes in Bavaria, according to the information from Sunday lunchtime.