Weather - Strong winds and storm surges: Rail and ferry services disrupted
Storm "Zoltan" disrupted rail and ferry services in northern Germany on Thursday. Eurocity, Intercity and ICE connections in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony were affected, according to Deutsche Bahn. There were restrictions due to storm damage on the routes between Hamburg and Kiel, Westerland (Sylt) and Bremen. The Intercity connection between Hamburg and Copenhagen was also affected. Deutsche Bahn also reported weather-related delays and cancellations on regional services.
The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) predicted a severe storm surge in Hamburg on Friday night. The water of the Elbe could rise 2.5 meters above mean high water. The risk of storm surge would persist until around 11.25 pm. Another severe storm surge was forecast by the Federal Office for Friday morning on the Elbe, Weser and Ems. Water levels are expected to rise to more than 2.5 meters above mean high water between 8 a.m. and 12 noon.
Flood protection in Hamburg has been steadily expanded over the past decades, so that the city would be safe even in the event of a record storm surge like the one on January 3, 1976. At that time, the water had risen to 4.32 meters above the current mean high water level.
The German Weather Service issued a storm warning for the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein and other areas. There is a risk of gale-force winds until 8.00 a.m. on Friday morning, including gale-force winds in some places. The storm is only expected to weaken on Friday. The storm warning was in place for the Baltic Sea from 6 p.m., according to DWD meteorologist Mareike Pohling.
"Zoltan" also disrupted the ferry schedules to the North Frisian islands and Halligen. Many ships between the Halligen and the mainland were already canceled on Thursday, as the Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei announced on its website. On Friday, there will be no connections between Schlüttsiel and the Halligen islands due to the storm and the associated land subsidence. The ferries between Föhr and Amrum as well as Dagebüll on the mainland will operate according to a special timetable on Friday. There were also changes to the timetable on Thursday.
Travelers to Sylt must also be prepared for restrictions. Various ferry connections between Havneby on Rømø and List on Sylt will be canceled, as the shipping company FRS Syltfähre announced on its website.
The Deutsche Bahn Syltshuttle did not take cars with trailers, trucks with empty trailers or hazardous goods, camping vehicles and motorcycles. The blue car train operated by RDC pointed out on its website that there may be restrictions on the transportation of very light, larger vehicles due to the storm with gale-force winds.
The operators of Hamburg's Christmas markets initially kept their stalls open as planned on Thursday - but kept a close eye on the situation. "The huts are storm-proof anyway. That is a requirement of the city. We'll wait and see how it develops today. If it gets too extreme, I will close the Christmas market," one of the operators told the German Press Agency in Hamburg.
Water level forecast BSH DWD forecast
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Source: www.stern.de
