Hundreds of Flights in Germany Canceled Because of Snow and Ice

Heavy snow and freezing rain grounded hundreds of flights in Germany on Wednesday, including at Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe’s busiest, where half of the scheduled flights were canceled as a blast of Arctic air made its way across the continent.

At Frankfurt Airport, about 500 of the 1,030 scheduled flights were canceled because of the weather on Wednesday, the airport said in a statement. The airport had expected about 115,000 passengers on Wednesday. The weather-related disruptions would continue on Thursday, the airport said, advising passengers to check their flight status before traveling to the airport.

Northern Europe has been swept by icy temperatures this week. Bad weather resulted in more than a hundred school closures and delays in Britain. In Norway, Oslo Airport, which saw heavy snowfall, warned of delays on Wednesday. And a plane slid off the runway at Sweden’s Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport during a blizzard on Wednesday.

Germany’s weather service issued a black ice warning in much of the southern half of the country for Wednesday and Thursday because of snowfall, freezing rain and low temperatures. A heavy snow warning was in effect in some central regions

The flight cancellations spread across Germany on Wednesday. Airlines canceled 254 flights to and from Munich Airport on Wednesday, about a third of total flights, the airport said in a statement. The airport had shut down last month because of excessive snowfall. Saarbrücken Airport, a small international airport on the country’s western border, suspended operations entirely, its website said.

Winter weather also disrupted some rail service. Germany’s national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, said in a statement that delays and cancellations were expected on Wednesday. The maximum speed of its high-speed ICE trains was limited to 200 kilometers per hour from the typical 300, which could cause further disruptions, the operator said.

Dozens of school districts in Bavaria also canceled classes or switched to remote learning on Wednesday, according to the state’s Culture Ministry.