Floods, hailstones cause havoc in southern Germany

A major storm caused flooded roads and cellars and traffic obstructions due to fallen trees in the southern German state of Bavaria on Friday evening.

According to a police spokesman in the city of Kempten, south-west of Munich, roads were turned white by hailstones, with around 320 operations reported by emergency services between 6 pm (1600 GMT) and midnight.

Most affected were the Allgäu region and the Lindau district, near Lake Constance and the border to Austria. Follow-up operations, including pumping out cellars, continued into the night.

Another 230 operations were recorded by the police station in Rosenheim, further east. Emergency services responded to flooded cellars and trees that had fallen onto roads and sometimes onto tracks. No injuries were reported.