Overview
- The German Weather Service warns of overfreezing wetness and freezing drizzle creating black ice across large parts of the country through Tuesday morning, with higher terrain seeing some fresh snow.
- In Saxony, a sudden blitzeis episode left pedestrians slipping in Dresden and police in Görlitz logged 13 ice-related crashes in 2.5 hours with roughly €50,000 in damage.
- North Rhine-Westphalia faces official alerts for frost and glatteis into late Tuesday morning, with pockets of dense fog and freezing drizzle, especially in the south, the uplands and Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
- Forecasts for New Year’s Eve point to a wet, cold and windy night with snow above roughly 400 meters and strong to stormy west to northwest gusts, reaching severe gale force on coasts and exposed ridges.
- Safety experts urge much larger following distances and smooth driving on slick surfaces, and meteorologists note model-based potential for a snow/ice episode the first weekend of January that remains uncertain.