People in northern Germany flocked to the Elbe river Tuesday to marvel at giant Arctic-style ice floes that have clogged up a stretch of the waterway, creating a headache for shipping but delighting visitors.
The ice formed upstream in recent weeks during a cold snap that saw temperatures plummet to -15C. Icebreakers have since smashed through the ice, sending the floes downstream where they accumulated at a barrage at Geesthacht, near the river-port of Hamburg, said Tilman Treber from the federal navigation authority (WSV).