For the second time Pentecost under Corona conditions – and the weather is modest in many places. But on the long weekend, many dare to venture outside even without a bright spot of sunshine.
Sylt (dpa) – At least a little breather after long months of the pandemic: This is what many Germans hoped for from this Whitsun weekend – and they did not want to be deterred by adverse weather conditions.
Despite heavy rain and sometimes stormy winds, numerous holidaymakers made their way to Sylt. In the morning, the vehicles were already jammed at the Autozug loading area in Niebüll. “The booking situation is very high, anyone arriving today without a reservation will have to wait,” said Meike Quentin, spokeswoman for the operator of the blue car train RDC.
A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn (DB) reported an hour’s waiting time at the loading terminal. “In general, we expect a lot of travelers on the Sylt Shuttle for the coming holiday weekend and, especially at lunchtime, an increased utilization of the car trains.” Since May 1st, holidaymakers have been able to stay overnight on Sylt again.
There was also a lot of traffic on Saturday at the other end of the republic – for example on the highways in Upper Bavaria. It was jammed at the border with Austria, as a police spokesman said. But that is not unusual because of the immigration controls. The Inntal motorway (A 93) is affected. There at the border crossing between Kiefersfelden and Kufstein, travelers heading for Austria waited for up to an hour on Saturday morning. It was also jammed on Autobahn 8 in front of the Freilassing – Salzburg border crossing.
In Austria, after a seven-month lockdown, the gastronomy, hotel, culture and many sports facilities opened on Wednesday. At the same time, many countries – including Germany – do not require quarantine upon entry. However, those entering the country must have been tested, vaccinated or recovered from Covid-19. Passing through Austria without a stopover is possible without any restrictions.
A little busier than in the past few months, but it was still quite quiet at Düsseldorf Airport. In search of better weather, numerous people set off from there to travel to the Mediterranean or the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, the situation at the start of the Whitsun weekend in the terminal is calm, said an airport spokeswoman on Saturday. According to this, about 140 take-offs and landings were on the schedule for Saturday, with 120 each on the next two days.
On Sunday the wind blows less stiffly than before – but there are still stormy gusts on the coast and in the mountains. Showers and individual thunderstorms are to be expected, especially in the eastern half. In the west and south-west, later also in the south, it is sometimes serene for a long time.
According to the meteorologists, the next low is in sight on Whit Monday, which means gray and often wet weather for the western half. In some parts of the country, on the other hand, a hint of the blissful month is noticeable: In the south and east it is initially sunny or slightly cloudy. The maximum values are then between 14 and 20 degrees, in the south and east between 19 and locally 25 degrees.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210522-99-702105 / 3
