German police have revealed the extent of a colossal motorway pile-up that involved 259 vehicles and left up to 66 people injured.
Ten people sustained life-threatening injuries in the incident, which took place on the A2 autobahn; one of the country's main roads which links Berlin with the Dutch border.
The pile-up - in fact a series of three crashes - took place on a stretch of road between Hanover and Peine, and was caused by a combination of bad weather and excess speed, police have said.
It is thought that motorists - many of whom were travelling on holiday after the break-up of schools - were caught out as dazzling sunshine followed a period of heavy rain.
Hundreds of emergency-service workers toiled through the night to clear the wreckage and treat the injured.
Firefighter Klaus Wulfes told Reuters: "I have not seen anything like this before.
"I have seen many accidents, but never a pile-up this size."
According to the Highway Code, stopping distances on wet roads are at least twice those in dry conditions, due to the fact that tyres have less grip.
Braking distances increase significantly with speed. In the dry, a car travelling at 30mph can typically stop in 23 metres, while at 70mph this increases to around 96 metres - more than four times the distance.
The Highway Code advises drivers to stay well back from the vehicle in front to increase the time available to react to events on the road ahead, and to be aware of the hazing effect caused by sun hitting spray from other road users.
