Overview
- - The German Weather Service placed an orange warning band from the North Sea across Bremen, Hamburg and Schwerin to Berlin for freezing rain and black ice, urging people to avoid unnecessary travel.
- - A five-vehicle pileup on the A1 near Wildeshausen injured 13 people, while Berlin logged about 80 glatteis-related callouts overnight and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern police reported more than a dozen crashes.
- - A brief weekend mild spell is forecast, but colder air moves back early next week with snow expected in upland regions and sleet or snow possible at lower elevations.
- - Meteorologists highlight significant model spread for the turn of the year, with some runs pointing to widespread lowland snow and severe night lows near minus 20°C, and others showing a less intense outcome.
- - Scientists note longer-term risks that could favor harsher European cold spells in future decades, citing evidence for AMOC weakening and potential polar-vortex disruptions.