At the meteorological start of winter, it was quite cold in large parts of Germany and already white in the south and southeast as well as at higher altitudes. On the weekend of the first Advent (December 3rd) you should dress warmly when visiting a Christmas market, as the DWD (German Weather Service) said in the forecast. Or you can stay at home to bake cookies. The calendar or astronomical start of winter is only in three weeks – on December 22nd. But winter began meteorologically on Friday (December 1st). In meteorology, the entire months of December, January and February are winter.
Winter sports season starts earlier than it has in a long time
The ski season began on Friday in fog on Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze. Since 2007 there has not been so much snow at the start of the season with over two meters, said the spokeswoman for the Bavarian Zugspitzbahn, Verena Tanzer.
In the Sauerland, too, after the early onset of winter, the first ski lifts went into operation on Friday, as well as in Oberhof, Thuringia – this was earlier than in ten years, said the operator of the ski lift in the “Lotto Thuringia Snowpark Oberhof”.
Winter operations had already started in the middle of the week with lifts in the Black Forest, followed a day later by the Söllereck in the Allgäu. The heavy snowfall in the past few days had somewhat mixed up the order at the season opening. On Hesse’s highest mountain, the Wasserkuppe, for example, skiing is scheduled to begin this Saturday.
Many traffic accidents in southern Germany due to slippery roads
In southern Germany, there were dozens of accidents due to snowfall and slippery roads on Friday night and in the morning. Several people were injured. In an accident on Autobahn 81 near Mundelsheim in Baden-Württemberg near Ludwigsburg, there were a total of seven injured, four of whom were seriously injured. A 33-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the center barrier several times. Three cars were then also involved in the accident.
More than 150 take-offs and landings were canceled at Munich Airport on Friday due to the weather.
This is how it will be on the first weekend of Advent
On Saturday the sun can only be seen temporarily in the north, otherwise the sky is overcast or even very cloudy, as the DWD reports. Snow falls at times from the edge of the Alps to Lusatia, and sometimes heavily on the edge of the Alps and in the Alps. The temperatures are between minus 5 and 0 degrees, in the south and west they can easily slip into the plus range. With similar temperatures, it will mostly stay dry during the day on Sunday, and the sun will shine at times. Only in the north and east can it still snow a little locally.
