Perilous
Times
Europe travel mayhem as arctic freeze strikes again
AFP - Saturday, December 18
LONDON (AFP) - – Snow swept Europe on Friday causing travel chaos
in the continent's north, shutting Bulgaria's major Black Sea
ports and leaving Italian cities blanketed in a rare covering.
Britain's national weather service, the Met Office, said if the
cold snap continued it would set a new record for the month after
two bitterly cold weeks in early December.
With just days before Christmas, the weather conditions and
plummeting temperatures caused disruption for road, rail and air
travellers with huge motorway tailbacks in Germany and warnings
from traffic police in some parts not to venture out except in an
emergency.
In Britain and Northern Ireland some airports were closed, roads
were blocked and rail services including the Eurostar were
delayed.
Heavy snow forced the closure of Northern Ireland's Belfast
International Airport, while runways were also closed at Exeter in
southwest England and briefly at London City airport, which serves
the capital.
London's Heathrow airport reported delays, although it was open
and both runways were clear of snow. Low-cost airline easyJet,
however, cancelled all flights to and from Gatwick airport near
London before mid-morning on Saturday.
Delays were reported on trains nationwide and Eurostar trains
between London and Paris and Thalys trains between London and
Brussels were subject to speed restrictions causing delays of up
to 30 minutes.
Christmas deliveries have already been hit hard, with a number of
Internet retailers stopping deliveries in Scotland.
"Pretty much everywhere in the UK will be affected by snow showers
at some point this weekend and temperatures will really struggle
to rise above freezing during the days," said Aisling Creevey, a
forecaster with Meteogroup.
Temperatures fell to an average of minus 0.7 degrees Celsius (30.7
degrees Fahrenheit), some 4.9 degrees below the normal average for
the month of December.
In Ireland, the national meteorological service issued a severe
weather warning that cold temperatures and widespread snow would
continue into next week.
"A band of heavy snow is expected to spread across the country
from the west and northwest, with all areas at risk," it said.
In Germany, snowfall caused motorway tailbacks of up to 40
kilometres (25 miles). Some regions reported shortages of petrol
as tankers got stuck.
More than 200 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt airport, the
country's busiest, and more than 100 at Munich airport in the
south. Both of Berlin's main airports also reported cancellations
and serious delays with more heavy snow forecast.
In Bulgaria, the largest Black Sea port of Varna was shut on
Friday afternoon, while the other major port of Burgas re-opened
around noon after a similar closure in the morning.
Snowdrifts shut a key highway going south from the capital Sofia.
Traffic police urged motorists to avoid travel in all of eastern
Bulgaria except in emergencies, while many people were stranded in
their cars by heavy snowfall in the northeastern region of
Dobrich.
Access to some 20 villages was cut in the northern region of Ruse,
blanketed by 40 centimetres (1.3 feet) of snow, and classes were
cancelled in several regions to the east.
In the southeastern French city of Grenoble a motorist died after
losing control of his car which overturned on fresh snow, police
said.
In Italy, rare snowfall disrupted the tourist destinations of Pisa
and Florence, forced both airports to close and severely disrupted
traffic and the region's rail network.
Police escorted ambulances through the streets of Florence and
flights were cancelled late morning due to poor visibility.
Snow also fell briefly over Rome, where temperatures had dropped
overnight to below zero, causing water in the capital's fountains
to freeze.