Violent heavy rain led to full basements and flooded streets in the south of the most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday. Nobody was injured, the authorities in the district of Euskirchen (between Bonn and Aachen) and in the Rhein-Erft district (which is located next to Cologne). In the district of Euskirchen, the police spoke of comparatively few missions: there is a bit of water in some streets and cellars. The German Weather Service (DWD) had warned of the south of NRW with strong thunderstorms with storm potential in the early evening. Local rain with up to 40 liters per square meter could occur in a short time and gusts of wind of up to 100 kilometers per hour. Hail is also possible. According to the prediction, thunderstorms should arise again in the night. According to a police spokesman, there should be a celebration in the evening. There were around 2,500 participants during the demonstration by the city center during the day, said the spokesman. For the evening, further appearances by artists on an open-air area next to the main train station were planned for the evening. In Rhineland-Palatinate, several regional train lines had to be closed due to the storm. The trains RB62, RB63, RB64 and RB67, as DB Regio AG announced on X, are affected. In connections RB62 and RB63 between Worms and Hofheim (Ried) there is a fallen tree on the track, it said. Therefore, it is not passable. In the RB64 Kaiserslautern line – Pirmasens was blocked by the route, the train operation was stopped. “Because of the storm, we cannot set up replacement traffic,” it said. The RB67 route between Glan-Münchweiler and Ramstein is also closed. The reason for this is a fallen tree. As a result, there are delays and partial failures. A police spokesman in Trier said: “We have a few overturned trees.” A police spokeswoman reported in Koblenz: “We waited for fat hailstones, but nothing came”. There were a few smaller weather -related accidents and fallen trees. “But nothing outstanding.” For Bavaria, the DWD warned in the evening in the meantime against severe thunderstorms in the northwest of the Free State. Hail grain sizes of three centimeters and heavy gusts of wind are possible with the storms. The weather service calculated with rainy amounts of up to 40 liters per square meter within a short time. Sometimes strong thunderstorms are also predicted for Sunday.
