Overview
- Rescue organizations across Bavaria urge people to stay off frozen lakes, ponds and rivers because the new ice is not reliably load‑bearing.
- Safety rules stress entering only officially released surfaces, using the 15‑centimeter guideline, leaving immediately at cracking sounds and calling 112.
- DLRG, Wasserwacht and local fire brigades advise assisting from shore with branches, boards or ropes and warn against untrained rescue attempts.
- Flowing waters, inlets and outlets, reservoirs and dam areas are highlighted as especially hazardous, with the Ruhrverband calling use there forbidden and life‑threatening.
- Training exercises by DLRG and fire services, alongside a late‑December frost with DWD lows down to about −10°C near the Alps, underpin the warnings despite the wintry conditions.