"Global warming" hits Germany: Coldest and snowiest day in decades

Germans are experiencing a severe bout of "global warming": An outbreak of cold weather has already in October, for the first time in decades, brought close to -6° temperatures and a thick (up to 20cm) snow cover to large areas of the country. 

"This is something that happens only once in 30 or 40 years", according to meteorologist Christoph Hartmann from the German weather service. "It is the kind of weather that you experience probably only once in your lifetime", Hartmann told the newspaper Die Welt. 

The icy roads have caused hundreds of traffic accidents, not only in Germany, but also in the Baltic countries and Russia. The cold spell is expected to last at least until the middle of next week.