Na-efega Munich Taa? Ị naghị!

Passengers in Munich, Germany have to spend the night in trains, and railway lines are closed: Heavy snowfall is causing chaos in the south of Bavaria.

The situation on the roads is hardly any better.

The closure of flight operations at Munich Airport has been extended until 6.00 a.m. on Sunday due to heavy snowfall. This has left thousands of passengers stranded and forced them to sleep in the airport as there is no public transport at all and very few taxis.

While  Passengers are being asked not to travel at all. Before departing on Sunday, passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline, the spokesperson recommended.

The winter service is working to ensure that operations can be resumed safely. Around 760 flights were scheduled for Saturday alone, unable to operate.

Around 20 aircraft that were due to land in Munich had already been diverted to Frankfurt in the early morning. These were mainly large aircraft and long-haul flights. The diversion also caused delays at other airports like Düsseldorf.

Authorities asked residents to stay home for their safety. The winter weather also disrupted train traffic, with the rail operator Deutsche Bahn saying on Friday “The main Munich station cannot be served”.

The highly anticipated football match between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin at the Allianz Arena is also called off.

Berlin Passengers who had bought their tickets long in advance were told on arrival at Berlin airport that their flight to Munich had been canceled.

They then desperately tried to find other means of transport to Munich, as there were no trains either. When they finally arrived in Munich at 3 am and were exhausted,  they were told only hours later the match had been canceled as well.

Police in Lower Bavaria said they made 350 interventions linked to the weather on Friday night, with five people slightly injured in road collisions.

For decades it never snowed that much in Munich with snowfall of 70 cm.

Emergency services reached their limit, and power cuts outside Munich are causing hazards.  

Service teams have been working since the night to repair damage to power lines and restore the power supply. “We are making good progress in restoring the supply, but many thousands of households are still affected,” said the spokesperson.

Snow and ice are also causing chaos on all transport routes in the south of Bavaria.

The railway is expecting severe disruptions in southern Germany until Monday.  Among other things, overhead lines were iced over.

Munich’s main railway station was inaccessible on Saturday.

Underground trains, buses, and trams also stopped running in the Bavarian capital

Traffic on the A8 towards Salzburg, a traffic jam already stretched for 30 kilometers near Munich, said an ADAC spokeswoman on Saturday morning.

The A6 and A9 motorways were also badly affected. The automobile club recommends temporarily avoiding non-essential trips.

The snow cover on the Zugspitze Germany’s 2962-meter-tall mountain near Garmisch-Partenkirchen is up to three metres high in some places.

“We have closed the Zugspitze completely,” said Verena Tanzer, spokeswoman for the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn, on Saturday. Neither the cable car nor the cog railway could operate.

There is a considerable risk of avalanches and there is also snowfall above on the rack railway line. Trees had fallen and were blocking the tracks

The Bavarian State Office for the Environment’s avalanche warning center has issued a level three warning for avalanches in the Bavarian Alps above 1600 meters. This indicates a significant risk of avalanches.

The power supply restoration efforts by service teams have been ongoing since last night. According to the spokesperson, progress in restoring the supply has been positive, but numerous households are still experiencing power outages. Additionally, new faults continue to arise.

The current challenge being faced is the adverse weather conditions hindering access to the fault locations, with many roads and access routes closed, particularly in Upper Bavaria.

Following the unprecedented snowfall, there will be a subsequent period of frigid temperatures plummeting to minus 15 degrees Celsius. Wishing you a joyous Christmas.