Tornadoes possible in Austria as weather chaos continues
Austria was hit by another night of severe storms last night with latest forecasts suggesting that some areas could be hit by tornado winds later today.
On Tuesday evening three people were rescued at the last minute from a sinking car after they drove it into a flooded road in the district of Amstetten in Lower Austria.
“The water was already up to the doors, the passengers could not open them,” Amstetten fire service spokesperson Philipp Gutlederer told the ORF.
Shortly after the people were rescued, the roof of the car was nearly completely underwater, according to the fire service.
Although the east will see the sunniest weather in the country, forecaster ‘Aktuelle Wetterwarnungen für Österreich’ warned that further heavy storms threaten the south and south-east of the country later today, including the possibility of tornado-like conditions.
Passengers at Vienna International Airport were left stranded after planes were severely delayed due to the thunder and lightning storm the hit the city on Tuesday evening.
Flights had to be re-directed to nearby Bratislava airport, although an airport spokesperson could not confirm to the ORF exactly how many flights were affected.
Some passengers complained online of a lack of timely information from the airport or airlines, who were forced for safety reasons to stop planes from landing.
“We took these measures for safety reasons due to the lightning, thunder and strong winds,” an airport spokesperson told the ORF.
In Styria, where around 1000 fire service personnel were again deployed overnight, the turbulent weather is thought to have caused €3.3 million worth of damage.
Regions of the state were hit by hailstorms, including in the municipality of Pischelsdorf where hailstones the size of golfballs covered the ground. Residents in Klagenfurt also reported hailstones as big as 5-6 cm on Tuesday morning.
Much of western Austria is expected to be hit by a cold front over the next few days, with between 30 and 60 litres of rain per square metre possible on Thursday in western and nothern regions.
The Austrian weather service ZAMG said yesterday, however, that they expect the summer conditions to return to much of the country by Sunday.
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On Tuesday evening three people were rescued at the last minute from a sinking car after they drove it into a flooded road in the district of Amstetten in Lower Austria.
“The water was already up to the doors, the passengers could not open them,” Amstetten fire service spokesperson Philipp Gutlederer told the ORF.
Shortly after the people were rescued, the roof of the car was nearly completely underwater, according to the fire service.
Although the east will see the sunniest weather in the country, forecaster ‘Aktuelle Wetterwarnungen für Österreich’ warned that further heavy storms threaten the south and south-east of the country later today, including the possibility of tornado-like conditions.
Flights had to be re-directed to nearby Bratislava airport, although an airport spokesperson could not confirm to the ORF exactly how many flights were affected.
Some passengers complained online of a lack of timely information from the airport or airlines, who were forced for safety reasons to stop planes from landing.
“We took these measures for safety reasons due to the lightning, thunder and strong winds,” an airport spokesperson told the ORF.
In Styria, where around 1000 fire service personnel were again deployed overnight, the turbulent weather is thought to have caused €3.3 million worth of damage.
Regions of the state were hit by hailstorms, including in the municipality of Pischelsdorf where hailstones the size of golfballs covered the ground. Residents in Klagenfurt also reported hailstones as big as 5-6 cm on Tuesday morning.
Much of western Austria is expected to be hit by a cold front over the next few days, with between 30 and 60 litres of rain per square metre possible on Thursday in western and nothern regions.
The Austrian weather service ZAMG said yesterday, however, that they expect the summer conditions to return to much of the country by Sunday.
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