Ice blocks clog up Germany’s Elbe river

Onlookers make their way through large chunks of ice and ice floes washed up along the banks of the Elbe river near Geesthacht, northern Germany, on January 19, 2026. Following several days of freezing winter temperatures and a low water level, ground ice started to form and to emerge to the surface. (AFP)

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).