Heavy snow in Germany after warm autumn

Snow ploughs were out in Germany on Monday to deal with an early fall of snow.

After an unusually warm autumn, parts of the country experienced a surprising onset of winter, especially in the regions of Saxony, Hesse, Thuringia and Bavaria where it snowed over the weekend. In the mountains in Bavaria, up to 15 centimeters of fresh snow fell, covering the landscape.

In Balderschwang, in the Bavaria region, leaves of trees were covered in white snowflakes and snow ploughs were seen clearing roads for traffic. In Saxony, the temperature dropped from +10 degrees Celsius to -10 degrees within one day, officials said. At Hamburg airport, the first aircraft of the day had to be de-iced.