Pia, also known as Zoltan elsewhere in Europe, has been raging since Thursday evening the north of Germany and causes heavy rain and wind. Not only did this lead to a heavy storm surge in the Hamburg region (with a maximum height of 3.33 meters), but travel traffic was also seriously disrupted in several places – just before Christmas. Thousands of train passengers became stuck on platforms, several long-distance trains were canceled and numerous railway lines or overhead lines were damaged by fallen trees. Stormy wind gusts of more than 100 kilometers per hour are also expected in the region on Friday.
In Stollberg, in the German Ore Mountains, a lot of snow fell in a short time, which led to a lot of traffic problems.
Hunter gets tree on him
In Austria there was one death. In the state of Lower Austria, more specifically in Klosterneuburg, an 81-year-old man was killed when a fallen tree fell on him while hunting wild boars in the forest.
Due to the storm, the fire brigade in the state had to make more than 230 interventions since Thursday evening and on some mountains there was a significant avalanche danger (of 4 on a scale of 5). “There were also small-scale power outages and several trees fell on cars,” said fire department spokesman Franz Resperger. “We are and remain alert, because massive interventions are also expected during the weekend.”
In Upper Austria, 35,000 households were left without power and the fire brigade had to carry out more than 400 interventions. This mainly involved clearing blocked roads.
There were also heavy storms and hurricane gusts in the state of Salzburg. Flachgau and the city of Salzburg itself were particularly affected. For example, the 55-year-old driver of a trolley bus was injured when a tree fell on his van.
In the rest of the country, wind gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour were measured, in the mountains this even rose to as much as 160 kilometers per hour. Thousands of families were left without power after fallen trees fell on power lines in the area around Kitzbühel and Lake Achen, in the state of Tyrol. In Vöcklabruck, a vehicle became stuck between fallen trees, but all occupants were able to escape unharmed. Air traffic was disrupted at Tyrol airport for a while because several aircraft were unable to land and had to divert.
In popular ski areas such as Ischgl, Samnaun and the Stubai Valley, the slopes remained closed on Friday (morning).
In Switzerland wind gusts reached speeds of more than 180 kilometers per hour in some places, weather service Meteonews announced on Friday. At Zurich airport the wind blew up to 93 kilometers per hour and in Lucerne speeds of up to 95 kilometers per hour were measured.
Recordwind
Also in Gap, in the southeast of Francewind speeds of more than 120 kilometers per hour were recorded and there were several reports of fallen trees.
At the Val Venosta weather station, in the north of Italy (South Tyrol), yet another record was set. For the first time since the station was put into use in 2000, a wind gust of 181 kilometers per hour was recorded.
Due to a combination of very high sea water in the Wadden Sea and the strong wind, a number of quays in the Wadden area were flooded. The Netherlands Underwater. Parking lots, bicycle sheds and highways were flooded in several places, as were some restaurants and hotels. On Thursday, a 39-year-old woman was killed by a fallen tree in Wilp, Gelderland.
Finally, traveling is also possible United Kingdom severely hampered by storm Pia. Numerous plane and train trips were either delayed or canceled on Thursday. The weather situation was slightly better on Friday, but the airlines and railway companies were still dealing with the consequences of the problems the day before.