Travel chaos as Europe shivers in heavy snowfalls

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-02 19:31

LONDON -- A blanket of snow covered large parts of western Europe Monday after some of the heaviest falls in nearly two decades, causing major flight delays, disrupting public transport and misery on the roads.

A snowplough clears the snow-covered pavement near the Eiffel Tower in Paris as winter weather hits the French capital February 2, 2009. A blanket of snow covered large parts of western Europe Monday after some of the heaviest falls in nearly two decades, causing major flight delays, disrupting public transport and misery on the roads. [Agencies]

More Photos: Snow in Europe

London was covered in up to 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow, the highest recorded in 18 years, paralyzing airports, trains, buses and roads and forcing many commuters to stay at home.

Flurries of snow also brought chaos to parts of Paris and Spain, while three people died in Italy amid adverse weather conditions.

Both runways at London's Heathrow airport were closed and airport operator BAA has warned of "significant delays" at the world's biggest international airport plus other London airports like Gatwick and Stansted.

Forecasters the Met Office issued a severe weather warning for London and the southeast of England, while train and London Underground services have also been badly hit.

An army of snow ploughs and gritters were working to clear roads as a spokesman for the Highways Agency said: "If your journey is not essential I would strongly advise you don't make it."

Hundreds of schools in southeast England have also been shut.

"It's absolute madness going in to work, but at least I can say I tried," said Bree McWilliam, a policy analyst from Brisbane who experienced her first ever snowfall as she struggled into work.

"I've never seen snow before, it's very exciting. It doesn't snow in Queensland," McWilliam said.

In France, flights were delayed by at least half an hour in Paris's Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airports. One of Orly's two runways was closed.

Air France cancelled a third of short and medium haul flights from Charles de Gaulle between 7:00am (0600 GMT) and 10:00am, but said long-haul routes would not be troubled.

France's road traffic agency urged motorists to cancel non-essential journeys, with roads difficult and in a small number of some cases impassable around Paris and in the east near Strasbourg.

The snow and icy conditions caused a dozen accidents in the Paris region without causing injuries, officials said.

In Italy, three people died and 500 people had to be evacuated from their homes Sunday amid bad weather in parts of the country, while Milan woke Monday to a dusting of snow.

Up to 20 centimetres also fell in parts of Switzerland overnight while part of the road around the San Bernardino tunnel was closed.

Snowfalls snarled traffic in several parts of Spain including the Madrid area where sections of two highways were temporarily closed to vehicles, causing traffic jams, the National Travel Administration Department (DGT) reported.

A storm disrupted ferry travel from the port city of Algeciras to Morocco, authorities said, and parts of central and southwestern Spain reported traffic disruptions before returning to normal in most areas by mid-afternoon.

Both Spain and France were hit by violent storms late last month that killed 25 people and left hundreds of thousands of homes without power.

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