Overview
- DWD issues high-level alerts for strong snowfall, snowdrifts and freezing rain on Friday, with authorities including the ADAC and the federal transport minister advising against nonessential travel.
- Niedersachsen closes all schools for Friday, Hamburg cancels in-person classes with emergency care, parts of Schleswig-Holstein and areas in Bavaria suspend lessons, and parents in Berlin and Brandenburg may keep children home.
- Rail and road disruptions widen: Deutsche Bahn lifts ticket binding and slows ICE on key routes, Oldenburg halts buses early Friday, Vogtlandbahn switches to a winter timetable with bus replacements, North Sea ferries largely stop, and airports face de-icing delays.
- VW pauses production in Emden for the day as municipal winter services expand operations, with Hamburg deploying 730 workers and 360 vehicles.
- Cities adjust rules and supplies tighten: Braunschweig temporarily permits rock salt on sidewalks and Hamburg eases its salt ban, while retailers report spot shortages of de-icing materials and police log ice-related crashes including an overturned 40‑ton truck in Mittelfranken.