Europe travel nightmare: Snow and flood alerts grip Austria, Germany, Czech Republic

Heavy snow is disrupting transport in the Alps, while southern Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic face red alerts for heavy rain.

Austrian railways halted trains between Salzburg and Klagenfurt due to snow, and issued a nationwide appeal to postpone travel. Snow is falling as low as 700 meters (2,300 feet), with as much as 200 centimeters (79 inches) forecast at high altitudes in the four days through Monday.

Less than a week after parts of Switzerland were baking in late-summer heat, up to 45 centimeters of snow is forecast for eastern regions above 1,600 meters. At the Aiguille du Midi, reached by France’s highest cable car in the resort of Chamonix, the temperature dropped to -16C (3.2F) on Friday.

After the Mediterranean was seared by a succession of heat waves over the summer, a cold weather system is gripping much of Europe, with freezing temperatures in the UK and torrential rain in Bavaria. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including violent storms and flooding.

Austria’s meteorological service issued its highest warning for heavy rainfall in Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. In the capital, the downpour will be accompanied by wind gusts reaching 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour, and the municipality is advising people to avoid unnecessary journeys. Authorities are also bracing for flooding risks along the Enns and Steyr rivers.

Flooding also threatens central and eastern parts of the Czech Republic, with the government warning that the situation is similar to the period before major inundations paralyzed the country in 1997 and 2002.