Snowfall sparks travel woes
Britain, Germany and France affected by sudden bout of sub-zero temperatures.
London: The heaviest snowfall in four years in Britain caused travel mayhem, while more than 300 flights were cancelled at Germany’s busiest airport and a ferry ran aground in the French port of Calais.
Hundreds of air passengers were stranded in Frankfurt, Germany’s financial capital, as well as Britain, and many took to Twitter to complain.
Some 330 flights were cancelled by 5pm after heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures struck the region around Frankfurt, a spokesman for airport operator Fraport said.
The airport – Germany’s largest air hub and the home base for major carrier Lufthansa -- had been scheduled to handle a total of 1,260 flights over the day.
Duesseldorf airport was also forced to close for four hours during the afternoon, news agency DPA reported.
Meanwhile, trains were delayed, redirected or cancelled across western North Rhine-Westphalia state.
In Britain, Birmingham airport, serving the country’s second biggest city, suspended flights for all of Sunday morning, as staff worked to clear the runway in heavy snow.
The airport typically handles around 30,000 passengers and 200 flights a day in December. It diverted 11 flights elsewhere and expected to cancel more than that, a spokesman said.
London’s Luton Airport closed its runway for two hours before reopening to departing aircraft, according to a spokesman.
It had opened to incoming flights by early afternoon.
One frustrated traveller described the airport as “like a war zone”.
Police forces in worst-hit 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, threatening to block roads.
Swathes of Britain were hit by the snowfall, particularly in central and western regions, according to the official weather service.
Sennybridge, in Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, topped the records with 30cm, while Coleshill, close to Birmingham, received 10cm, it reported.
Meanwhile, light snow and sleet fell through the morning in London, leaving Northolt, on the outskirts of the capital, with a covering of 2cm, the Met Office said.
“We’ve gone through the worst of it,” said spokesman Oli Claydon in the early afternoon.
Claydon said the last time Britain saw this much heavy snow nationwide was March 2013, and during the winter of 2010.
In France, a ferry with more than 300 people on board ran aground in high winds in Calais, interrupting traffic in one of Europe’s busiest passenger ports but causing no injuries.
The ferry, The Pride of Kent, ran aground at noon after it hit a gangway while making way to leave for Dover in southeast England. — AFP