BERLIN, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Due to heavy snowfalls, the district office in Miesbach, southern Germany's Bavaria, has announced catastrophe status on Monday.

This was necessary to better coordinate the different emergency forces, a spokeswoman said. "All schools in the county will be closed for the rest of the week," informed the district office.

The German district office warned that "the situation on the roads is still tense and there may be short-term closures. Due to snow breakage, it is recommended to limit journeys to the bare minimum."

The winter weather had already caused chaos and traffic problems in southern Bavaria over the weekend. On Monday, the snow still caused delays and disruptions on several German regional railway lines.

With the declaration of the catastrophe status, the operational command as well as the obligation to bear the costs are transferred to the district office.

In addition to more fresh snow in the mountain regions of Germany, the German Weather Service predicts strong winds on Tuesday and warned against heavy snowdrifts due to the gusts of wind, which could also affect traffic on roads and rails.