This is the terrifying moment water crashed through the front windows of a ferry in rough waters, as Storm Ylenia battered Germany with 94mph winds.
Footage taken from inside the ferry by a passenger shows the vessel being buffeted around as it sails down a river, before a huge wave breached it.
A number of passengers were shown sitting sitting at the front of the ferry directly in the path of the water when it smashed through the glass.
This is the terrifying moment water crashed through the front windows of a ferry in rough waters, as Storm Ylenia battered Germany with 94 mile-per-hour winds
At least three people appeared to be knocked out of their seats by the deluge.
In the footage, the ferry’s bow is seen plunging into the river after cresting a wave, causing the water to rise up and burst through the windows.
After a moment of stunned surprise, other passengers were shown grabbing their belongings and fleeting towards the rear of the ferry in a bid to escape the flood.
Pictured: The split second before the water from the river smashed through the windows of the ferry in Germany, flooding the deck. Footage taken from inside the ferry by a passenger shows the vessel being buffeted around as it sails down a river, before finally a huge wave breaches it
A number of passengers were shown sitting sitting at the front of the ferry directly in the path of the water when it smashed through the front widows, and at least three appeared to be knocked from their seats
After a moment of stunned surprise, passengers were shown grabbing their belongings and fleeting towards the rear of the ferry in a bit to escape the flood
Another video taken from the river bank captured the incident from the outside of the vessel.
The ferry is shown bouncing on the waves before its bow is engulfed in water, which bursts up and floods the front of the vessel.
According to German news outlet MOPO, which confirmed the incident on Thursday, the ferry was travelling Route 62 that runs down the river Elba between Hamburg and Finkenwerder – a suburb of the city.
A spokesperson for Hadag and Hochbahn, the company operating the ferry, confirmed the incident to MOPO and said no one had been injured.
Meanwhile, German national railway company Deutsche Bahn said it has stopped long-distance train services in seven out of the country’s 16 states after Storm Ylenia slammed northern Germany in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Another video taken from the river bank captured the incident from the outside of the vessel. The ferry is shown bouncing on the waves before its bow is engulfed in water, which bursts up and floods the front of the vessel
The affected federal states are Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg and Berlin, though most other states are also affected, Deutsche Bahn said on Thursday.
Deutsche Bahn spokesman Achim Stauss said there was ‘considerable’ damage to tracks and power lines.
‘I fear travellers will need to put up with disruptions for a long time,’ he said.
‘Some long-distance trains end and begin well before the affected states,’ the company said in a statement.
By 1230 GMT, gale-force winds had caused one casualty, who died in a car after a tree collapsed on to a country road near the town of Bad Bevensen in Lower Saxony, local police said, confirming a report in the Bild newspaper.
The German Meteorological Service (DWD) said in a tweet it had recorded a wind speed of 94 mph on the highest peak of the Harz mountain range in northern Germany at 0000 GMT.
The storms also caused a spate of power cuts across the country.
Pictured: A storm has blown a roof of an apartment house on a street in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Thursday. The German Meteorological Service (DWD) said in a tweet it had recorded a wind speed of 94 mph on the highest peak of the Harz mountain range
The fish market with the fish auction hall is flooded in the during a storm in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022
Waves and spray of the North Sea hit the harbor pier during the storm ‘Ylenia’ in Buesum, northern Germany, on early February 17, 2022
A firefighter stands next to a falling tree at a road in Wilkenburg near Hannover, Germany, Thursday
According to the Stoerungsauskunft website that partners with German energy suppliers to collect data about current outages, more than 170 towns and cities were affected at 1230 GMT.
In Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the power cuts affected around 50,000 households according to a statement on the official website of the region’s Borken district.
Schools were closed in several states and police warned residents to stay at home and avoid parks or forests.
The strongest winds were felt on Brocken, the highest point in the Harz highlands in central Germany, with speeds of up to 152 kph.
Airline Lufthansa cancelled 20 flights destined for Hamburg, Berlin and Munich, departing from Frankfurt, the country’s largest airport.
Travellers were encouraged to consult the company’s website to check the status of their flight.
In total, at least three people were killed as severe storms lashed Europe, with winds of up to 181 kilometres per hour causing widespread travel disruption.
An aerial picture taken with a drone shows damaged residential buildings after strong winds in the night in Dobrzyca, west-central Poland, 17 February 2022
Polish firefighters protect and secure a broken roof of a residential building caused by strong winds in the night in Dobrzyca, Poland, 17 February 2022
In Poland, gusts of up to 80 miles per hour seriously damaged more than 500 homes, felled hundreds of trees and left 324,000 households across the country without power overnight.
Police said two people died and two were injured after storms toppled a large crane at a construction site in Krakow.
Another person was killed by a tree that fell on his car in the west of the country.
The Czech Republic was also hit, with more than 300,000 households left without power and extensive traffic disruptions as fallen trees blocked roads and railways.
The strongest winds with gusts of 181 kph were recorded on Snezka, the highest Czech mountain, in the north.
Three children were taken to hospital with injuries after a car accident in the southwest of the country. Wind lifted the bonnet of a car, causing the driver to swerve and crash into another car head-on.
Gales also damaged or destroyed roofs across the country.
Train passengers stand in a queue in front of the travel center of German railways operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) at the main railway station in Hamburg, northern Germany, on Thursday
In the Netherlands, which was hit with gusts of up to 100 kph, a police officer was injured by roofing that had blown off a commercial building in Duiven, near Arnhem, public broadcaster NOS said.
Firefighters cut two people from a car after a tree fell on it in the southern town of Maasluis. They were later taken to hospital.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport reported flight delays of up to 45 minutes, while some rail services were cancelled.
Britain’s meteorological service issued a rare ‘red weather’ alert for Thursday and Friday, warning of ‘danger to life’ from severe gusts in southwestern England and south Wales.
Ireland also warned of ‘severe and damaging winds’ and the possibility of coastal flooding.
The storms are expected to persist through Friday and into Saturday, with hurricane-force gales expected in many areas.
