BERLIN's main international airport was provisionally closed Friday because of a heavy snowstorm, an airport spokesman said. Flights to and from Tegel airport were delayed by over an hour because of snow on the runways. Flights were also disrupted at the city's two other international airports, Tempelhof and Schoenefeld. Road traffic too was badly disrupted in the Berlin-Brandenburg region Friday, with dozens of mainly minor accidents because of heavy snow and ice, police said. The return of the winter has been announced by meteorolgists since the beginning of the week. However, ice and snow still caught many drivers and local traffic authorities by surprise. This is mainly, because January and early February have been extremely mild making people forget that February is a full winter month.

Traffic in Northern Germany was heavily disrupted after the third day in a row of snow, showers and gales. High waves and storm caused flooding along Baltic and North Sea coasts. Gale force winds and peak gusts of more than 100 kph (63 mph) were pushing the sea against German coasts, causing widespread light damage. Snowstorms also paralyzed Denmark's road and air traffic. Severe winds hampered ferry traffic between Scandinavia and Germany. A rare live shot of coastal erosion in action at a cliff section near Kiel, Germany has been taken by Heiko Schmidt, a weather enthusiastic and hobby photographer.

"I have been walking along the coastline to document the flooding, when I was suddenly realising those cracks on the ground. All over sudden a large chunk of coast, with trees and everything on it, knocked off and tumbled down into the sea", Schmidt said. "This was happening the very moment that I took my camera in order to take some pictures. After realizing how close I have been to the cliff, my knees started shaking a bit and I kept a safe distance."