Hurricane low "Zeynep" rushes over Germany – DWD goes to the highest warning level

The storm in Germany claimed three lives. The situation remains very critical. After “Ylenia” the next hurricane low is approaching. This could get even worse.

Update from February 18, 7:20 a.m .: The hurricane “Ylenia” has only just swept across Germany, and hurricane “Zeynep” is already waiting to be used. As early as Friday afternoon, the wind in the northwest should increase again significantly. The peak is reached in the evening and in the first half of the night on Saturday, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of more than 120 kilometers per hour are expected, especially on the East Frisian Islands and other exposed locations. But the weather service is also expecting hurricane-force gusts and gusts of magnitude 11 and 12 for inland areas. With the fear of the wind comes the fear of possible flooding, especially on the islands. The flood gates on Wangerooge should be closed to prevent a catastrophe.

Hurricane gusts expected in Germany: warning level purple applies in these districts

In some counties on the North Sea coast, the German Weather Service (DWD) has now issued the highest warning level (purple). Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of up to 140 km/h are warned.

However, the storm warning is still valid in a milder form in most parts of northern and many parts of eastern and western Germany. The red alert warnings apply from around 4 p.m. today in western and central Germany and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the east.

+

Update from February 17, 8:35 p.m .: The death toll from hurricane low “Ylenia” has risen to three. A driver died in the district of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony. According to the police, the trailer of a truck got into the oncoming lane due to the storm and crashed into the man’s car. His passenger suffered serious injuries from the impact. Icker Landstraße 40 in Belm was completely closed due to rescue and recovery work.

Tree crashes into car that rolls over – driver dies in Saxony-Anhalt

Update from February 17, 7:25 p.m .: Another person died in Saxony-Anhalt due to storm “Ylenia”. A 55-year-old died on a country road in the southern Harz Mountains. According to the police, a tree fell on the man’s car due to the strong wind. The moving car then overturned. This brings the death toll to two.

“It will be brutal”: Meteorologist warns of a new hurricane

Update from February 17, 7:05 p.m .: Storm “Ylenia” is moving, the next hurricane is in the starting blocks. On Friday, low “Zeynep” moves across England to the North Sea. And according to experts from wetter.net , this storm is even more violent. “Ylenia” “was just a prelude,” said meteorologist Dominik Jung. According to British weather models, hurricane “Zeynep” could cause gusts with wind speeds of up to 180 km/h, reports wa.de. “It’s going to be brutal,” says Jung. The west will be less affected, but wind speeds of up to 110 km/h should also be expected in NRW.

Storm “Ylenia”: Rail traffic affected until Saturday

Update from February 17, 4:52 p.m .: Because of the storm, the failures in long-distance traffic by Deutsche Bahn in northern Germany lasted significantly longer than initially announced. Train traffic is expected to be “affected nationwide” by Saturday, Deutsche Bahn wrote on Twitter on Thursday. It is currently not possible to say with certainty which long-distance routes will continue to be canceled on Friday and Saturday.

Hurricane weather in Germany: Two seriously injured

Update from February 17, 3:46 p.m .: In addition to a dead person (see initial report) , there were also serious injuries due to the storm: A 16-year-old scooter driver in Krempe (Schleswig-Holstein) was hit by a gust on a bridge, according to the police. He hit the railing violently. In Germering (Bavaria), a 52-year-old was hit by a falling tree*.

According to AFP, the helpers report nationwide fallen trees, damaged house roofs and obstacles blown around. In many cases, cars also drove into fallen trees, a few trees fell on residential buildings or empty trucks came off the road due to gusts of wind.

The authorities in many federal states had already reacted before the arrival of the hurricane. The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia ordered a state-wide school cancellation for this Thursday.

Germany weather: “Ylenia” is followed by hurricane low “Zeynep”

Update from February 17, 2:54 p.m .: Meteorologists warn after “Ylenia”, which has already claimed a fatality in Germany* (see first report ) before the next hurricane. The DWD expects that “Zeynep” could cause “extreme hurricane gusts of over 140 kilometers per hour” from the East Frisian coast to the Elbe as early as Friday afternoon (February 18).

The meteorologist Andreas Machalica from wetter.com also warns in a broadcast. According to current model calculations, “Zeynep” will be strongest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. “Zeynep” will therefore be an even stronger storm. On the night of Saturday (February 19), the storm then reached the entire north of the country.

Wind gusts of more than 120 kilometers per hour are to be expected on the coast. Even after the storm has lifted on Saturday morning, it will probably remain very windy to stormy. “So that means we’re dealing with a highly dangerous situation again at the weekend,” writes Machalica.

First storm death in Germany: 37-year-old man is killed in a car by a tree

First report: Bad Bevensen – A 37-year-old man fell victim to the hurricane “Ylenia” in his car. He was on Thursday morning around 9 a.m. on the L252 between Bad Bevensen and Seedorf in the Uelzen district when a tree fell on his car and killed him. As a spokesman for the fire brigade confirmed, the driver died immediately. The country road was closed for the duration of the rescue work.

Weather in Germany – severe storm conditions threaten until Saturday

The hurricane “Ylenia” subsides on Thursday afternoon. “The first peak has been passed, but more will follow both today and tomorrow,” announced the German Weather Service (DWD) on Thursday morning. The dangerous weather situation in Germany will last until the evening in some regions.

The DWD warns that stormy gusts and gusts of wind are still to be expected in many places. In the north and east with heavy gusts of wind, in parts of Brandenburg there can be hurricane-like gusts. On the Brocken and in the Fichtelgebirge, individual gusts with wind speeds of over 140 km/h are possible.

Hurricane low “Zeynep” approaching – DWD expects “extreme hurricane gusts” on Friday

After a short break in the storm on Friday night, another storm is emerging. Hurricane Zeynep is approaching. Especially the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts and Schleswig-Holstein get very strong winds.

“We warn of extreme hurricane gusts of up to 135 kilometers per hour on the North Sea coast,” said Franka Nawrath, meteorologist at the German Weather Service (DWD) of the dpa news agency. Extreme hurricane gusts with wind speeds of up to 135 km/h are therefore also expected on the Baltic Sea coast on Friday evening. In the other regions of the north, hurricane-like gusts or hurricane gusts can be expected.

* Quelle: DWD Beaufort-Skala

Weather in Germany: red alert! Hurricane alert in the north

The force with which the hurricane will hit the north is still not 100 percent predictable. The signals for extreme hurricane gusts are there. The DWD receives new model data every six hours. Calculations would have calculated the core of the hurricane low in different places.

“As things stand at present, the low is moving from the North Sea via Denmark to southern Sweden. And then we are on the southern flank of the low in the strongest wind field,” Nawrath continues. “This is the north of Germany.” (ml/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

Category image: © DWD