Munich airport resumed activity this morning after being forced to cancel all operations yesterday due to heavy snowfall in southern Germany. Although it has done so at half speed given that two thirds of the flights scheduled for today will have to stay on the ground in view of the damage and complications caused by the snow and cold storm that is hitting central Europe.
"Flight operations resumed at 06:00. There will still be restrictions on air traffic. Therefore, we recommend that travelers flying today check the status of their flight with their airline in good time before traveling to the airport." , the airport has warned from its website and social media profiles.
According to an airport spokesperson, quoted by the regional broadcaster BR, around 560 of the 880 flights scheduled today at the Munich airport will be cancelled.
The first plane to take off this morning, at 8:28 a.m. (06:28 GMT), was a flight from the German airline Lufthansa bound for Berlin after air traffic was interrupted yesterday due to adverse weather.
Munich central station remained closed early in the morning, although the railways plan to partially resume long-distance services throughout the morning.
The German railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) has reported that it does not expect to recover full service until Monday, December 4.
Also public transport, which had stopped circulating in Munich because the snowplows could not cope with the fresh snow, is slowly resuming service and the subway, buses and trams are running again, with the exception of trains. surroundings.
In the United Kingdom, the outlook has also become complicated. Heavy snowfall in northern England forced motorists to seek shelter or spend the night in their cars and left more than 2,500 customers without power.
Dozens of trucks were trapped by snow, blocking roads and condemning car drivers to major traffic jams, turning relatively short journeys into trips lasting several hours. And the situation will not improve in the coming hours as the UK's meteorological agency has issued several ice alerts for much of north and central Wales and eastern Scotland from Sunday night until midday on Monday.
"It's like you're walking through the Alps or some ski resort right now," summed up Harrison Ward in the Lake District community of Ambleside. "As soon as the first cars started to get stuck on the road after losing control, everything was chaos."
That happened to Ant Brett who was stuck in his car for 19 hours from Saturday afternoon while driving from Essex to Cumbria, a journey that normally takes no more than five hours.
"I was heading to a family wedding; it's fair to say I didn't make it," he told the BBC. "I have run out of water and now I have to ration it. I know that the emergency services are busy, but they have left us here without help," she said by telephone.
Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service worked overnight to extricate drivers from cars trapped in the thick blanket of fallen snow. Local police Superintendent Andy Wilkinson said the storm was bigger than expected and people were urged Sunday not to travel to the county despite criticism from many drivers stranded in the storm.
"We understand people's frustration during this time," Wilkinson said. “However, agencies are working hard to improve the situation in Cumbria and are also facing difficult road conditions.”
Given the magnitude of the snowfall, authorities set up schools, churches and an explorers' cabin to provide emergency shelter to trapped travelers.
More than 2,500 people were left without power in Cumbria, Electricity North West reported. The power supply is expected to be restored late Sunday night, but the hours progress without the situation having improved.
