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Thunderstorms, hail pummel western Germany

Shamil Shams with dpa
May 23, 2018

Extreme weather has hit parts of the country's western region amid an unseasonably warm spring. Half-a-meter of hail was recorded in the Mosel region.

https://p.dw.com/p/2yA1Q
Thunder and lightning in Frankfurt
Image: picture alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst

Germany's meteorological service, the DWD, said the weather in southern and central parts of the country was expected to remain wet on Wednesday.

Tuesday's "summer thunderstorm" in the west and southwest of Germany damaged buildings and flooded cellars and streets, particularly in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.

There were no reports of anyone seriously injured.

Flooding in Hessen
Flash flooding hit the region including in the town Mücke, northeast of FrankfurtImage: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Weitzel

Heavy rain in the north of Koblenz also caused a landslide, police said. Authorities temporarily closed a highway to avoid accidents.

Read more:2 dead as tornado, storms batter northern Germany

Half-a-meter high hail

In the municipality of Kaisersesch, up to half-a-meter high hail was recorded. Locals told media it hailed for 20 minutes in Gamlen district. One woman was slightly injured on a Kaisersesch highway. The highway police spoke of a layer of ice, which at one point was up to 2 inches (5 centimeters) thick.

Hail piles up in the Mosel region
Up to half a meter of hail was reported in the Mosel regionImage: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Marzi

More than 100 takeoffs and landings were canceled at Frankfurt Airport, partly due to thunderstorms in Europe, but also because of an air traffic controller strike in France.

Last month, heavy rains, hail as well as thunder and lightninghit hard Germany's Eifel region.

Read more: Germany records hottest April ever

Victims of the brutal cold