BERLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The German Weather Service has issued a severe weather warning for the country, including Hamburg and Berlin, as a storm sweeps across on Thursday.
The service issued a level 3 weather warning, or the second highest in its warning system, for a huge stretch of Germany, from the North Sea coast to Saxony bordering the Czech Republic.
Heavy storms and gusts of winds rising to hurricane force have been forecasted in cities like Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin.
Firefighters were dispatched in Berlin because of a fallen tree, and shipping traffic in the city was stopped, according to the bz-berlin.de website Thursday morning.
The Berlin-based International Garden Exhibition closed on Thursday. Zoo Berlin and Animal Park Berlin also announced that they will close from Thursday afternoon due to extreme weather.
The weather service says that winds will weaken from Thursday night to Friday.
