Snow dump puts northern Germany in deep freeze

Snowed blanketed northern Germany on Sunday, prompting rail operator Deutsche Bahn to suspend connections to the Netherlands and some long-distance domestic services as the national weather centre warned of "extremely heavy drifting snow". Deutsche Bahn said on its website that long-distance train services between Berlin, Hanover and Cologne were suspended until further notice.

Snowed blanketed northern Germany on Sunday, prompting rail operator Deutsche Bahn to suspend connections to the Netherlands and some long-distance domestic services as the national weather centre warned of "extremely heavy drifting snow". Temperatures dropped to -7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit) and Berlin and Hanover, and strong winds from the east whipped up snow storms, the DWD weather service said.

The bad weather hit a band running from Muenster in the west to Saxony in the east, with an area to the south of Hanover hit hardest. Deutsche Bahn said on its website that long-distance train services between Berlin, Hanover and Cologne were suspended until further notice.