Police said falling rain immediately froze leading to a series of accidents, in which two women and a Polish man were killed near the town of Kaiserwald when their car flipped over.

In western Austria, the highway leading to a tunnel in the Brenner pass linking Italy and Austria was closed due to accidents caused by winds of over 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour.

In Kitzbuehel, a World Cup Super-G ski race was postponed until Monday due to difficult conditions from rain, snow and high winds.

Officials, meanwhile, put out avalanche warnings for the Austrian Alps.