All flights have been canceled at Munich airport this Saturday after a winter storm caused snowfall in southern Germany and parts of Austria and Switzerland, wreaking havoc on travel across the region.
After initially announcing the interruption of air traffic until noon on Saturday, the airport subsequently announced the cancellation of flights until 6 a.m. on Sunday. Other airports in the region, including that of the Swiss financial capital, Zurich, also announced delays and cancellations related to the storm.
Train service at Munich central station has also been suspended, Germany’s national railway company said, advising passengers to postpone or reroute their journeys. The DPA news agency has noted that some passengers from Munich and the nearby city of Ulm spent Friday night on trains due to the suspension of service.
German soccer league Bundesliga officials have also announced that the match between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin, which was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Munich, has been canceled.
The weather has caused accidents and incidents in the region. Police in Lower Bavaria, a region northwest of Munich, have reported responding to 350 snow and ice-related incidents between Friday night and early Saturday, some of which caused minor and moderate injuries.
In Austria and Switzerland, fresh snowfall has prompted officials to warn of the danger of avalanches. The western Austrian provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg raised their avalanche alert level to the second highest after the region saw up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) of snow fall overnight.
