Avalanche warnings have been issued across parts of the Alps region after a weekend of heavy snowfall led to a number of deaths across Austria, Germany and Italy, Euronews reports.
In Austria, two people were believed to have been killed in an avalanche near Salzburg on Saturday, the country’s national news agency reported. Another avalanche in Germany’s Bavarian Alps region claimed a further victim.
One person was also killed in Bavaria by a falling tree branch that had buckled under heavy snow on Saturday, local police confirmed.
The German meteorological service, Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), said on Sunday that the danger of avalanches had “risen sharply” in both the Barvarian and adjacent Austrian Alpine areas.
Die #Lawinengefahr ist in den vergangenen Tagen im bayerischen Alpenraum sowie im angrenzenden österreichischen Gebiet stark angestiegen. Mehr dazu im heutigen Thema des Tages. Aktuelle Informationen auch in der WarnWetterApp (Naturgefahren). /Vhttps://t.co/ohUbJ084Ij pic.twitter.com/vpH2q2ioZf
— DWD (@DWD_presse) January 6, 2019
Traffic chaos has also been reported with Munich Airport cancelling more than 100 flights due to extreme weather. Roads and schools were also forced close across parts of the Bavarian region.
More heavy snowfall was expected to continue into the evening on Monday before sweeping to the eastern Alpine border by Tuesday, DWD reported.