Zoltan sweeps across Germany, disrupting pre-Christmas traffic

A storm system dubbed Zoltan caused major disruption to pre-Christmas travel, especially in northern Germany as it brought high winds and heavy rain, reported Xinhua.

The German Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) said the severe storm surge in the Hamburg area has peaked and the water is now slowly receding after reaching 3.33 metres.

A storm surge is considered severe from a water level of 2.5 metres above mean high tide.

Thousands of rail travellers waited on platforms and in travel HUBS on Friday, hoping to reach their destinations despite the storm.

Numerous long-distance trains were cancelled. Rail routes in the north were particularly badly affected.

Germany's rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) said that passengers who have had to postpone a planned journey on Thursday or Friday due to the storm can use their ticket at a later date.

Northern Germany as well as parts of the central state of Hessen were affected by fallen trees which damaged overhead lines or blocked railway lines.

A spokeswoman for the railway said, "DB is deploying heavy equipment to clear the lines as quickly as possible. All clearing crews are on the road with repair vehicles to remove trees from track areas and repair overhead lines."

For the weekend, Deutsche Bahn is expecting trains to be very busy - in addition to the already heavy Christmas traffic, there will now be travellers who have had to postpone their journey to the weekend due to the storm:

Several people were also injured on the roads during the storm, often in their cars. There were fatalities caused by the storm in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Zoltan began to hit parts of north-western Germany on Thursday evening. The same storm system also made itself felt in other countries, including the UK and Denmark.

Flights at Frankfurt Airport largely returned to normal on Friday after Zoltan disrupted traffic at Germany's main hub, Fraport, the company that operates the airport, reported.

Zoltan is expected to continue to bring strong winds to the coast on Friday.

According to the German Weather Service, gale-force gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour are possible in the evening.

The wind is expected to decrease somewhat in the second half of the night and then become stronger again on Saturday evening, although weaker than on Friday.