Snowfall causes traffic chaos in western Germany

Commuters in western Germany were hit by traffic chaos Thursday as heavy snow caused delays and problems throughout the region.

Aircraft were unable to land or take off at Cologne-Bonn Airport for around two hours in the early morning. By the afternoon, a normal service had been resumed after 23 flights were canceled due to the weather. More snow was expected overnight. 

Local public broadcaster WDR reported over 400 kilometers (248 miles) of bumper-to-bumper traffic in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Long traffic jams were reported after a pileup on the key A4 highway around Cologne.

"They were driving slowly, but not slowly enough," a police spokesperson said.

Police in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate reported at least 22 weather-related accidents, 11 of which were in Kaiserslautern.

More snow was forecast for the weekend. 

 

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