Snowfall is expected to continue in parts of northern Germany on Friday, while icy weather will persist into the weekend. Streets may be even more slippery due to public service strikes.

More snowfall expected in three German states

More flakes are forecast to fall on the heavy blanket of snow which covered Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse on Thursday evening.

On Friday, the snowy weather will persist in northeastern parts of the country, namely around Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony, but will not be as heavy.

“A bit of snow is still to come,” German Weather Service (DWD) meteorologist Julia Schmidt told NDR, “but it won’t be in such large amounts”. 

Public service strikes mean streets will be more slippery

Across Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, police recorded numerous snow and ice-related traffic accidents on Thursday night. Drivers should double-check that their vehicles are fitted with winter tyres which are compulsory on German roads.

In response to the heavy snowfall and slippery conditions, 500 road safety workers began gritting Hamburg’s most traffic-heavy roads at 1am on Friday morning.

But as public service strikes across multiple cities and regions in Germany continue into Friday, the DWD has warned pedestrians and drivers that pavements and roads may not have been gritted due to strikes, meaning they could be even more slippery than during normal snow days.

Freezing temperatures are expected to persist into next week. The DWD has forecast lows of -7 degrees celsius on Sunday night and -10 degrees in the Mittelgebirge regions of central Germany.

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