Hundreds of flights canceled as snow sweeps across Germany

BERLIN

Hundreds of domestic and international flights were canceled at Germany’s busiest airports on Wednesday due to extreme weather conditions.

In Frankfurt, Germany’s largest airport, almost 600 of the 1,047 planned flights had to be canceled due to the snow, ice and freezing temperatures.

The airport operator announced in the afternoon that all take-offs were canceled as the aircraft could no longer be safely de-iced, amid persistent rain.

Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights before traveling to the airport.

At Munich airport, a major international hub, around 250 flights were canceled.

Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa announced that it significantly reduced its entire short-haul and long-haul flights schedule.

Heavy snowfall and freezing rain also caused delays and cancellations at Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart airports.

The German weather aervice has warned that freezing temperatures will continue during the course of the day, especially in the south and southwest of the country. It also warned of an “extreme risk of black ice” and heavy snowfall in the regions Baden-Wurttemberg, Hesse, Rheinland-Palatinate, Saarland and Thuringia.