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loNDoN: The heaviest snowfall to hit Britain in four years caused widespread disruption, with roads becoming hazardous and flights grounded following runway closures.
Birmingham Airport, serving the country’s second biggest city, suspended flights for all of yesterday morning, as staff worked to clear the runway amid heavy snow.
The airport, which typically handles around 30,000 passengers and 200 flights a day in December, diverted 11 flights elsewhere and expected to cancel more than that, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, London Luton Airport closed its runway for two hours before reopening around 11.30am to departing aircraft, according to a spokesman.
It had opened to incoming flights by early afternoon.
“All flights (are) subject to delay or cancellation,” he said.
Police in Wales and central England urged motorists not to travel unless “absolutely necessary” as they dealt with surging calls.
A spokesman for the Highways England agency said there had been road incidents “all over the place”.
The flurries continued to fall into the afternoon, raising the prospect of roads becoming impassable.
Swathes of Britain were hit by the snowfall yesterday, with significant accumulation in central and western regions, according to the Met Office, the country’s official weather service.
In FRANKFURT, more than 300 flights were cancelled and hundreds more delayed as snow and ice blocked runways at Germany’s largest airport yesterday, the airport operator said.
Some 330 flights were cancelled by 5pm after heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures struck the region around the German financial capital, a spokesman for airport operator Fraport said.
The airport – Germany’s largest air hub and the home base for airline giant Lufthansa – had been scheduled to handle a total of 1,260 flights over the day.
More flights could be cancelled in the evening, the spokesman said, but added that weather was forecast to improve in the coming hours.