Vienna - Austria on Wednesday remained in the firm grip of winter, with large parts of the country covered in up to 50 centimetres of snow. Weather-related traffic accident continued to occur mainly in western parts of the country, after on person was killed and 37 more injured in a mass pile-up involving more than 70 cars on the A1 motorway, Austria's main east-west link, on Tuesday.
On the A10 motorway in Salzburg traffic authorities reported that traffic came to a complete standstill on a stretch up more than 40 kilometres after a truck accident.
A number of roads were closed down in mountainous regions in the west of the country, either due to adverse weather conditions or after accidents.
Avalanche risks increased on Wednesday due to the renewed snowfalls in the western provinces Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Authorities in Vorarlberg set the warning level to "high", in Tyrol skiers were warned against highly unfavorable conditions and high avalanche risks.
