The winter goes into the next extension
Many germans flee the country and fly to the sun. From zero degrees in the northeast to ten degrees in the south, the palette in germany ranges over the holidays. This year’s march could be the coldest in 130 years in some federal states. In great britain, the snow masses buried sheep and easter lambs under themselves. Tons of snow to be cleared in moscow and kiev, followed by the threat of flooding.
"High "jill" over south scandinavia just won’t let up and continues to send us permanently cold air from russian or polar regions," said meteorologist simon trippler of the german weather service (DWD) in offenbach on wednesday. A spring breakthrough is not in sight. Also low "dieter", which crosses germany from west to east until saturday, will not make it warmer, but will bring rain and snow. And after that, the eastern current dominates again: "this guarantees the continuation of the too cold weather beyond easter", said trippler.
The harsh winter brings a wave of bookings for long-distance travel to the travel companies. "Everything is packed for easter", said the spokeswoman of the travel company tui, anja braun, to the news agency dpa. "We’ve seen decent increases in the last few weeks and really blame it a bit on the weather," she stressed in hanover on wednesday. In view of the good booking situation, there were hardly any last-minute offers left. Other suppliers are also fully booked.
In the northeast of germany the coldest march for at least 130 years comes to an end. For saxony-anhalt, brandenburg and berlin, the DWD recorded average temperatures of just under minus two degrees, which are very close to the previous march cold record from the year 1883.
The last four days of the month will decide whether there will even be a record there. It would be the coldest march since weather records began in 1881. At least five homeless people have frozen to death in germany this winter, according to the federal association for homeless assistance.
After record snowfall in moscow, excavators shoveled tons of snow from roads wednesday night. The weather service announced thaw and plus degrees, so the people of moscow had to be prepared for slush and flooding. According to the latest figures, there have been 314 cold deaths in russia so far. In the ukrainian capital of kiev, the head of the administration, alexander popov, dismissed his deputy and several officials of municipal companies who had failed to provide winter services. Kiev had to contend with heavier snowfalls than at any time in more than 100 years. Authorities there also warned of floods.
In scotland and northern ireland, people as well as animals are struggling against the persistent winter weather. On the isle of man, farmers once again searched for sheep and easter lambs buried under heavy snow. Thousands of animals could have died. The bird protection association reported numerous death traps for rare birds. In scotland, thousands of people remained without electricity for the sixth day in a row. In northern ireland, residents of remote farms were cared for by the army. Meteorologists predicted that winter temperatures could last until mid-april. A "soft easter" with snowfall was forecast for some places.
