34 degrees and rain!

Chaos after more storms, but the heat remains

The storms on Wednesday will be followed by the clean-up operation. Numerous fallen trees caused road closures across the country.

(Bild: APA/DANIEL SCHARINGER)

Heavy rain, storms and hail caused havoc in Austria on Wednesday. Roads were flooded and cellars inundated. Upper Austria recorded more than 320 call-outs within just a few hours, while two mudslides occurred in Tyrol. Despite the sunshine on Thursday, individual shower cells are possible again in the morning. It will stay hot!

In the Tyrolean district of Landeck, the heavy rain on Wednesday led to mudslides on the B197 (Arlbergstraße) in the area of the Marienwasengalerie and on the L11 (Piller Landesstraße) in the area of the Schlachthofkurve, according to the police. 

After the storms on Wednesday, the clean-up work will follow. Numerous fallen trees caused road closures across the country.

(Bild: APA/DANIEL SCHARINGER)

Road closures and operations during the night
The B197 had to be completely closed to traffic by the emergency services from 10.30 pm to 0.46 am and on one side until 2 am. The L11 had to be closed on both sides for around one and a half hours at around 11 p.m. as part of the clean-up operation.

Thunderstorm cell over the capital.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/krone.at)

More than 320 operations in just a few hours
Within just a few hours, the Upper Austrian fire brigade command recorded more than 320 deployments by 220 fire departments with around 3300 firefighters. The districts of Braunau, Ried and Rohrbach were the worst affected. In the district of Ried, several cars were hit by fallen trees.

Train services were temporarily paralyzed. In Aurolzmünster, for example, a tree that had fallen onto the tracks had to be removed. In Niederwaldkirchen (Rohrbach district), a tree fell on a house. In Micheldorf (Kirchdorf district), eyewitnesses reported hailstones two to three centimeters in size.

1.4 million euros in damage after hail
The Austrian hail insurance company reported on Thursday that 3,000 hectares of agricultural land in the Inn and Hausruck districts had been massively destroyed in some cases. "According to initial surveys by the experts from Österreichische Hagelversicherung, we expect damage to agriculture in Upper Austria amounting to 1.4 million euros," said the responsible regional director Wolfgang Winkler. Crops affected include cereals, maize, soybeans, sugar beet, rapeseed and grassland.

Thunderstorms again on Thursday
What the weather will look like on Thursday: Residual clouds in the north will largely dissipate and then the sun will largely prevail. In the north, individual shower cells are already possible in the morning. In many places, however, it will be hot and humid again during the day. In the afternoon, the risk of thunderstorms will increase significantly again, starting in the mountains. The thunderstorms may spread further towards the evening. Nevertheless, it will remain hot, with temperatures of up to 34 degrees!

The weather on Friday will be similar: it will remain sunny and dry in the morning, but the risk of showers and thunderstorms will increase significantly in the west with lots of cumulus clouds. From midday, rain showers and thunderstorms will slowly spread eastwards along the northern side of the Alps, reaching the eastern lowlands in the evening. However, it will remain largely dry and sunny from East Tyrol eastwards to southern Burgenland. It will even get a degree hotter: 35 degrees are expected before the weekend.

Sun and thunderstorms at the weekend too
The risk of thunderstorms will not decrease at the weekend. In the west and in places in the north, it will be more cloudy from the start, with clouds often dominating. There will also be some rain showers and localized thunderstorms. Further east and south-east, however, the sun will often shine. On Saturday afternoon, however, there may also be thunderstorms in Styria and Carinthia. Temperatures will also be around 30 degrees at the weekend.