Europe hit by blizzards, havoc, deaths
LONDON ( AFP) Ñ Extreme winter weather swept across western Europe on Saturday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at London’s main international airport and claiming several lives in Spain, Portugal, Scotland and France, including those of three Mali- bound soldiers.
The frigid temperatures also caused delays and cancellations on major railway lines including the Eurostar train service, and transport authorities warned of further traffic disruptions with more blizzards forecast for this week.
In London, thousands of passengers were forced to camp out on the floor at Heathrow Airport overnight as hundreds of flights to and from the British capital were cancelled.
“There are lots of bodies lying around in the airport. If feels like there’s been a natural disaster,” Jerry Meng from Los Angeles, whose flight to New York was cancelled, told the BBC.
London’s other main airports, Gatwick and Stansted, managed to operate fairly normally Saturday.
For today, the snow is expected to reduce traffic at Heathrow by 20 percent, and French air traffic authorities have ordered a 40 percent cut in takeoffs and landings at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.
Air France said all of its long-haul flights would operate normally by Tuesday, but that about 40 percent of its short Ñ and medium- haul flights would be affected by the disruptions.
Snow and ice covering large parts of France led to several fatal car crashes, one of which killed three French soldiers about to join comrades fighting in Mali, authorities said.
The troops were travelling in an army car with their military packs and weapons when their vehicle crashed in an accident involving two trucks and two cars.
In total, six people were killed on the slippery French roads Saturday, and the nation’s weather services have forecast more snow across the northern and southeastern parts of the country over the weekend.