Snow and black ice led to many accidents in Freiburg on Wednesday. Clinic emergency departments are overburdened. The situation is also tense in other cities.
On the slippery roads of Baden-Württemberg on Wednesday morning, many drivers slipped and tumbled into ditches or crashed into walls. Several people were also injured in Freiburg.
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Clinics in Freiburg reported an increased load in emergency rooms over the course of Wednesday. Pedestrians and cyclists have to be very careful because in many places the sidewalks have also turned into slides. So is Münsterplatz. The city of Freiburg has been forced to close large parts of the square, popular with tourists and the main shopping street in the Old Town.
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On Wednesday, the German weather service issued an official severe weather warning of thick black ice in parts of Baden-Württemberg. “The rainfall is so heavy that the ice sheet is growing that icy conditions can be expected,” said a meteorologist. It will still be uncomfortable outside, according to the weather service in its forecast.
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Consequences of weather in Freiburg: emergency rooms overcrowded
Because of the many accidents caused by black ice, emergency rooms at clinics in Freiburg and rescue workers were loaded on Wednesday. Asked by SWR, University Hospital said on Wednesday afternoon that the emergency room was full, and about 80 patients were currently being treated with SWR-related injuries, such as broken bones and head bruises. Rescue workers set up a treatment center in the Freiburg exhibition hall to relieve emergency rooms. The Red Cross announced on Wednesday that the wounded will receive medical care there and will be transferred once the clinic can expand again.
To avoid overloading the emergency services and clinics, a treatment center has now been set up in Freiburg.
DRK District Association Freiburg / Malteser Freiburg / Johanner Freiburg
Those who do not necessarily have to go out should stay home, the police in Freiburg advised. The risk of slipping on ice is greater for pedestrians and cyclists. Officials continued on Wednesday that if you must go out, you should use public transportation instead of your own car.
The German Weather Service (DWD) continues to warn of freezing rain and black ice on Wednesday morning. The emergency room of the University Hospital Freiburg is overcrowded.
Snow is expected in Baden-Württemberg until Thursday
The German Meteorological Service expected light snowfall in quantities of up to five centimeters in the north and center of the federal state until Wednesday evening. On Thursday night – especially in the center of the country – the snow should still fall.
Forecast: Up to three centimeters of fresh snow, also partly slippery due to wet freeze. According to the Met Office, gusty winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour are expected to rise over the high elevations in the south of the Black Forest on Thursday evening. There is also a fog.
extreme weather? Where does the cold come from in December?
SWR weather expert Michael Kost explained on Monday where the current cold is coming from: “To the north we currently have a high pressure area over Iceland and a low pressure area over the Baltic states, which together bring cold air from the polar region to us.” You can think of it as an engine shoveling cold air from north to south – the low pressure area always moving counterclockwise and the high pressure area always moving clockwise.
“Currently, the lowest extremes of 19 degrees, for example, will only be reached in known ‘cold hotspots,’” Kost said. “And these are depressions in the landscape where ‘lakes’ have formed from downpours of cold air. On average, values from minus ten to minus four degrees Celsius will be reached locally.
