Snow causes pre-Christmas travel chaos in Europe

[Elmore Furth]

Source: MSNBC

Travel mess includes 300 miles of traffic jams in Netherlands

BERLIN — Heavy overnight snowfall disrupted air travel across western Europe on Saturday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and leading to major delays in Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Germany: It appeared the hardest hit by the snow, with more than 600 flights canceled, schools forced to close and highways clogged with traffic after scores of accidents that killed at least three people and injured dozens.

Britain: A wave of snow and icy weather was causing travel problems, with trains canceled, schools shut and cars sliding on icy roads.

Bad weather also had on impact on British domestic and international flights on Saturday.

Major international hub Heathrow said it was fully operational but the airport warned that it expected more snow and was "planning for the worst," a spokesperson told msnbc.com.

Out of a total of around 1,200 planned flights for the day, 179 had been cancelled by 9 a.m. (4 a.m. ET), the spokesperson said.

British Airways, meanwhile, said it had cancelled all its Heathrow flights from 10 a.m. (5 a.m ET) and 5 p.m. The airline also announced it was cancelling all flights from London's Gatwick Airport between 10 a.m. and 4:59 p.m.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40718363/ns/weather/

[maddezmom]

1. we've had about 2 inches here in the last hour...and it's still coming down hard

Glad we decided to spend Christmas in the UK because we'd be trying to fly out today and most flights are cancelled until 5pm.:)

[dipsydoodle]

4. At 9.30 this morning

all we had in Watford was the sprinkling from yestersday afternoon sat on top of ice : it was -8c here last night. The blinds were down in house so I didn't notice what was occuring outside until I went out at 11am. The blizzard which had hit all of the southern counties east of Dorset had moved north across Surrey, Berkshire and Hertfordshire and we had about 4" of fresh snow. Heathrow is shut and the M1. M4 and M25 have become their seasonal joke. As I'm writing that has reached 7" but at least the snow has stopped. I bet it will be real fun out on the roads tonight

I remain smug about the fact I drive a diesel Jeep Wrangler Unlimited which will cope with most things other than a vertical wall. :)

[maddezmom]

6. stopped snowing here and we probably got 7 inches. Looks beautiful!

My husband has been out shopping in my XC90 and had no problems but I think later on tonight it's going to get a bit icy. Stay safe and warm. :)

[jwirr]

7. Thanks for the on site evaluation. I have a nephew stranded over

there today. Here in Minnesota we have the kind of equipment needed to clear roads but many states in the US do not because they are not used to heavy snow. What is the status of available equipment in England?

Keep safe.

[Solly Mack]

2. It won't stop snowing. sigh

Oh well...

[Turbineguy]

3. Amsterdam to Utrecht by train: 3 hours.

Normally 1/2 hour.

[dipsydoodle]

5. You there at present ?

I've a friend who lives in that vicinity. She emailed me this morning saying they had a lot of snow. Is it that bad ?

[Turbineguy]

8. Spoke by phone.

With cousin who pointed his camera out the window to show me the weather. People who went home after work by car, some got home at 2:30 AM. It's a mess.

I'm in Florida Haha!

[dipsydoodle]

9. Oh yes

Haha - oh to be in FL.

[tomg]

10. I am in Florence, and

it is a mess. This is a major site for american students, and we have a large program. Students who were to leave late yesterday are now not getting out until Monday or Tuesday. I am supposed to fly out tomorrow and should not have much of a problem. What is funny ( well, not funny but weird ) is that a snow storm that paralyzed Florence would be a two-hour school delay in the Hudson Valley.