Snowstorm brings Munich airport to standstill and causes travel chaos in Germany

Snowstorm brings Munich airport to standstill and causes travel chaos in Germany

All flights were grounded at Munich's airport on December 2 after a winter storm dumped snow across southern Germany and parts of Austria and Switzerland, affecting travel across the region.

After initially announcing a halt in air traffic until noon on December 2, the airport later announced flights would be cancelled until 6 am on December 3. Other airports in the region, including in the Swiss financial capital, Zurich, also announced weather-related delays and cancellations.

Trains to and from Munich's central station were also halted, Germany's national railway said, advising passengers to delay or reroute their journeys. The news agency dpa reported that some passengers in Munich and the nearby city of Ulm spent December 1 night on trains due to the halt.

Officials for Germany's Bundesliga also announced that a soccer match between Bayern Munich and Union Berlin, originally scheduled for December 2 afternoon in Munich, was cancelled.

The weather has caused accidents and incidents across the region. Police in Lower Bavaria, the region northwest of Munich, said they responded to 350 incidents related to snow and ice between December 1 night and early on December 2, some of which led to minor to moderate injuries.

In Austria and Switzerland, the new snowfall led officials to raise the alarm about the danger of avalanches. The provinces of Tyrol and Vorarlberg in western Austria raised their avalanche warnings to the second-highest level after the region received up to 50 cm (20 inches) of snow overnight.