Germany: Severe storms, possible hurricane to hit northwest August 10

Event

The German Weather Service (DWD) has issued warnings for severe storms forecast to hit the North Sea coast on Friday, August 10. Heavy rain and gale-force winds up to 100 km/h (62 mph) are also expected to affect the western region of the country. The storms may reach hurricane-level strength. The areas forecast to be most affected by the storms include Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and western parts of Bavaria.

Flight operations at the Frankfurt Airport were briefly suspended on the afternoon of Thursday, August 9 (local time), due to the storms; though operations have since resumed, residual delays are expected in the coming hours. Rail transportation disruptions have also been reported in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and North Rhine-Westphalia states as of Thursday afternoon. Further travel disruptions including flight and train delays and cancelations are expected in these and other affected areas over the coming days.

Advice

Individuals in the abovementioned areas are advised to keep abreast of weather alerts, to anticipate potential transportation disruptions, and to follow any instructions issued by local authorities.