Bahn is gradually phasing out regional traffic in the north and NRW

Berlin,London In northern Germany, the harbingers of the storm “Zeynep” already showed a lot of strength on Friday evening. The German Weather Service (DWD) reported gusts of force 9 on the islands of Heligoland and Sylt at 5 p.m., in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel gusts of wind force 8 were measured.

For the evening and night, the DWD warned of extreme hurricane gusts of strength 12 on the North Sea with up to 160 kilometers per hour. In addition to preparing for the hurricane, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein were also preparing for a storm surge.

For the Hanseatic city, the DWD announced hurricane-force gusts with wind speeds of up to 115 kilometers per hour. Storm “Ylenia” only crossed Germany on Thursday night.

There is said to be a storm surge on the North Sea coast, and according to the forecast by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) there will be a severe storm surge with water levels three meters above the normal high tide on Saturday night. The highest water level will probably be reached between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, said Bernd Brügge from the Federal Office.

Deutsche Bahn stopped train services in northern Germany and large parts of North Rhine-Westphalia until at least Saturday morning due to the announced storm.

The protection of travelers and employees has priority, it said. “Whoever can, we recommend traveling by train from the late afternoon to an earlier time,” the railway recommended in the morning. Passengers can use their tickets booked for the period from Thursday to Sunday flexibly until February 27 or cancel free of charge if they postpone trips because of the storm.

>> Read about this: When insurance companies pay for storm damage

The consequences of hurricane “Ylenia” are still visible in northern Germany. After the storm on Thursday, the fish market in Hamburg’s Altona district was flooded again early Friday morning. According to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), the water level at the St. Pauli measuring point was 1.49 meters above the mean high water level – one centimeter below the limit for storm surges.

For Saturday, the BSH expects water levels of up to three meters above the mean high water, which corresponds to a severe storm surge. The maximum is expected to be reached early Saturday morning.

VW is cutting shifts in Emden

Because of the approaching hurricane, Volkswagen is temporarily suspending production at its Emden plant. A VW spokeswoman confirmed a corresponding report by the “Emder Zeitung” on Friday afternoon.

Accordingly, the late and night shifts were canceled on Friday. Employees were asked to stay at home. This happens out of caution, said the VW spokeswoman. The aim is to protect employees from the storm on their way to and from the plant.

On Saturday, the early shift was also supposed to start work a little later. It was not known how many workers were affected. A total of around 9,000 people work at VW in Emden.

Hurricane hits Great Britain

At least two people died in England on Friday as a result of the severe storm that swept across Europe. In north London, a young woman died in a car after a tree fell on the vehicle, according to police. A man died after debris fell on the windscreen of his vehicle in north-west England, according to local police. In Ireland, a man had previously been killed by a tree.

In both countries, tens of thousands of homes were left without power because of the storm, dubbed “Eunice” in both countries. A number of buildings suffered damage to their roofs, and rail traffic was disrupted in many regions.

The Met Office warned that there was a risk of death from flying debris. The London Fire Brigade received 550 calls in two and a half hours – more than usual in an average 24-hour period.

Storm “Eunice”, which was christened “Zeynep” in Germany, is considered one of the most severe storms in Great Britain in several decades. The highest wind speed ever measured in England was registered on the Isle of Wight at around 196 kilometers per hour, according to the weather service.

Storm “Dudley”, which is called “Ylenia” in Germany, had already led to serious disruptions in train traffic in Scotland and the north of England on Thursday night. Thousands of homes across the north of England have been left without electricity.

Three fatalities in Amsterdam

The storm with hurricane-force gusts paralyzed public life in large parts of the country. Train and local public transport were suspended, air traffic was affected. In Amsterdam alone, three people died from falling trees, including a cyclist.

In France, the weather service issued a severe weather warning for five departments in the north. There was a risk of waves up to four meters high on the coast.

Hurricane low “Ylenia” had already led to thousands of operations since Wednesday evening. Many trees fell, there were accidents on the roads with some dead and injured, and rail traffic in the north came to a standstill in large parts. The Berlin fire brigade alone deployed around 1,300 missions by Thursday evening.

At least three drivers in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt died in weather-related accidents – two were killed by falling trees, a third died when his trailer got into the oncoming lane in a storm and an accident occurred.

An incident for the people on a Hamburg harbor ferry went off lightly: On a stormy trip across the Elbe on Thursday morning, a large wave smashed the front windows of the ship. According to police, three passengers suffered minor injuries.

According to expert estimates, the storm will cost insurers in Germany around half a billion euros. The cold front, which swept across northern Germany on Wednesday and Thursday, was the most expensive storm of the year so far, said the actuaries (actuaries) at the Cologne-based consulting firm Meyerthole Siems Kohlruss (MSK) on Friday.

“We estimate the insured damage in Germany at 500 million euros,” said MSK Managing Director Onnen Siems. Such storm damage occurs every one to two years. It will probably have to be borne by the insurers themselves. Reinsurance programs are probably not affected because the damage is distributed evenly in the market, explained MSK.

“Ylenia” sets a wind power record

According to an analysis by the energy company Eon, the storm caused a wind power record. On Wednesday, with a peak of 47.12 gigawatts, more wind power was fed into the German power grid than ever before, Eon reported on Friday in Munich after evaluating data from the Federal Network Agency. The new high was reached on Wednesday evening.

According to the information, the wind power record is the peak of several windy weeks at the beginning of the year: by February 17 alone, German wind turbines on land and at sea generated more than 28 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. In the previous year, only around 18.5 billion kilowatt hours had come together up to this day.

With a view to the weather forecast, the Eon analysts estimate that a total of more than 37 billion kilowatt hours of wind power could be generated in Germany in January and February. For comparison: In the whole of 2021, the systems in Germany generated around 118 billion kilowatt hours of wind power.

Eon registered the largest share of wind power in electricity consumption so far this year on February 6th, a Sunday when electricity consumption is lower than on weekdays. The average value for January was a good 36 percent. In February, the average so far is over 50 percent wind power.

More: Violent storm moves over Germany – pictures of the storm