Deutsche Bahn halts rail services throughout Germany as storm intensifies

"Since there have already been disruptions caused by the cyclone, we are temporarily halting long-distance travel in large parts of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bremen with immediate effect,"  it said on its website.

"Because of current developments and increasingly powerful winds we have decided to progressively suspend all long-distance traffic across Germany from 6 pm," it said.

Several airports in Germany also had to cancel flights as the storm swept in from the north.

Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Hanover were among those affected, while at Düsseldorf, 111 flights were scrapped on Sunday.

READ ALSO: Germany braces for violent storms and extreme winds

Winds of more than 120 km/hr predicted

Throughout Europe, Britain and Ireland were lashed by howling winds and inundated with driving rain Sunday as Storm Ciara left homes without power, wiped out sports events and disrupted travel around northwestern Europe.

The bad weather also hit France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland throughout Sunday, causing scores of flights to be cancelled.

According to forecasters in Germany, the wind will continue to increase and heavy gusts are likely in some areas.

"With a cold front moving simultaneously from northwest to southeast, gale-force gusts of over 105 km/h and hurricane-speed gusts are also possible at times," said the German Weather Service (DWD).

Some weather experts predicted wind speeds of more than 120km/h.

The following map shows DWD's prediction of wind speeds around Germany.