Snow, extreme cold close airports, claim lives
GENEVA — An extreme cold snap across Europe claimed more lives, forced the closure of airports in Scotland, Switzerland, France and Ireland and left hundreds of drivers stranded on snowy highways Thursday.
Heavy snow and high winds halted all flights in and out of Dublin Airport, with authorities saying they are unlikely to resume until Saturday. Irish Rail said no trains are likely to run until Saturday.
Forecasters said a new storm was bringing blizzards, 60 mph winds, freezing rain and thunderstorms to Ireland, southwestern England and Wales later Thursday. They predicted zero visibility and deep pockets of snow.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged people to get home by 4 p.m. Thursday and stay there until the storm passed. The Irish stock exchange shut down at midday and will be closed all day Friday.
Swedish media reported that a woman who had left her home at an asylum center was pronounced dead in the hospital after being found in a forest.
Danish police said an 84-year-old woman with dementia became the second person to die in the country because of the cold weather. She left her home Wednesday evening and was found Thursday in a park in Roskilde, police said.
Geneva's airport closed after the Swiss city was hit with about 5 inches of snow over a three-hour period early Thursday. It reopened several hours later after extensive de-icing of the runway, planes and facilities.
Snow also shut down Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in Scotland, and there were cancellations at Heathrow and other airports in Britain. Airports in the southern French cities of Montpellier and the Atlantic beach resort of Biarritz were also affected.
Hundreds of drivers were trapped in their cars overnight in Scotland.
In southern France, about 2,000 cars were blocked on highways in the Herault region.