Increased caution!

White Christmas – also on the Tyrolean roads

Deep winter conditions prevailed on the Inntal highway near Innsbruck (left) and near Seefeld.(Bild: Hubert Rauth)

"Driving Home for Christmas" - this Christmas in thick snow. Deep winter conditions prevailed on Tyrol's roads on Tuesday morning. The snow clearing services have been working non-stop since the night hours. Chains were compulsory on some roads. Increased caution is required, warns the traffic police.

"There are currently snow-covered roads in almost all of North Tyrol," the provincial traffic department told the Krone shortly before 8 am. The heavy snowfall was already causing concerns, even if there was still little traffic given the time of day. No major problems or accidents were reported for the time being.

Snow-covered road and compulsory chains on the Arlberg Pass.(Bild: Land Tirol (Webcam))

Driving snow also in the provincial capital of Innsbruck.(Bild: Hubert Rauth)

Chains were compulsory in some places
Christmas started with mandatory snow chains here and there. For example on the Arlberg Pass, on Gerlos Straße in Zillertal or in sections on the B170 Brixentaler Straße, according to the police.

Clearance services in constant use
The snow clearing services have been working continuously throughout Tyrol since the early hours of the morning. This meant that traffic was able to flow on the Fernpass and the A13 Brenner freeway in the early hours of the morning.

Plenty to do for the snow clearing services at Christmas.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Easing in sight
In the morning, it is still expected to snow widely in Tyrol, sometimes heavily. "In the afternoon, the snowfall will ease from the west and largely subside in the Oberland by the evening. It will also clear up here. Otherwise it will continue to snow lightly into the evening. In East Tyrol, it will remain dry with a stormy Tauern wind away from the northern valleys and will be mostly sunny," says GeoSphere Austria.