Icy weather system brings subzero temperatures to Germany

Temperatures in Germany stayed below zero for a second day on Tuesday bringing snow and ice to swathes of the country. The weather surprised many, with black ice causing chaos on the roads in and around the capital Berlin and bringing over 1,000 calls to emergency services. Berliner Petra Bahlmann described the conditions on her way to work and her efforts to get there: “Difficult, difficult. I looked for some old rags to put around my shoes this morning, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it as far as here. But work is work, you have to soldier on.”Forecasters said a warm weather front meeting with a Scandinavian high-pressure system means the icy weather will spread across the country this week. Another German commuter was trying to look on the bright side saying: “It’s much better than yesterday. The roads were gritted today, unlike yesterday.”Berliners struggled to stay on their feet as parts of the city were treated to ice-skating conditions.The west and south of the country will escape most of the cold but in the north, the mercury is set to dip 10 degrees Celsius below zero by the end of the week.