Paris – Icy temperatures plunged swathes of Europe into a second day of travel chaos on Tuesday, with weather-related accidents causing six deaths from the continent’s bitterest cold snap this winter so far.
Five of those deaths since the mercury dropped on Monday were in France alone, while a woman died in Bosnia as heavy snow and rain sparked floods and power outages across the Balkans.
Paris’s two airports, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly, were to cancel many flights early Wednesday to allow ground crews to clear snow from runways and de-ice planes. Forty percent of flights at Charles de Gaulle were to be scrapped, and 25 percent at Orly.
In Britain, the mercury plunged to -12.5C overnight Monday-Tuesday in Norfolk, eastern England, while temperatures below -10C across the Netherlands brought trains to a standstill on Tuesday morning.
“Last night was the coldest night of the winter so far,” Britain’s Met Office said, with nearly all of the United Kingdom on alert for snow and ice and more snowfall expected.
With the chill making roads perilous, three people died in accidents linked to black ice in southwestern France on Monday morning, authorities said, while a taxi driver died in hospital on Monday night after veering into the Marne river in the Paris region.
His passenger was still being treated for hypothermia, according to a police source. Another driver also lost his life east of Paris on Monday after a collision with a heavy goods vehicle.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, the Netherlands’ main flight hub, meanwhile saw a second day of weather-driven cancellations Tuesday, with more than 400 flights grounded and travellers facing huge queues at the airline counters.
Trains from the Dutch national railway operator NS only began rolling again after 10:00 am (0900 GMT), with services limited afterwards.
But planes got off the ground again from Liverpool in northwest England and Aberdeen in northeast Scotland, after the cold had forced both airports to close on Monday.
‘Like climbing Mont Blanc’
After nearly 40 centimetres (16 inches) fell in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo at the weekend, a woman died in hospital after being hit by a tree that collapsed under the weight of the snow on Monday, according to the police.
Dozens of villages across neighbouring Serbia were left without power in the wake of the snowfall, while downpours caused several rivers to overflow in Bosnia and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes in Albania.
More than 300 schools were shut in Scotland Tuesday, the national BBC broadcaster reported, with Scottish train services also severely disrupted.
“Tuesday will bring more severe snow and ice to the north of Scotland — and with it, continued travel disruption and risks to people and communities,” Scottish transport minister Fiona Hyslop warned late on Monday.
“It’s important that people plan ahead, consider their travel plans and work from home if that’s an option.”
Several smaller French airports were closed on Tuesday, according to the transport ministry.
In the French capital, Monday’s snowfall had settled overnight across much of Paris’s pavements, with pedestrians forced to navigate treacherously icy streets.
Tour guide Valeria Pitchouguina said the sight of Paris snowed under was “truly extraordinary”, but the ice was complicating efforts to shepherd her groups up the steep steps to the picture-postcard district of Montmartre.
“When it’s like that and snowy and icy, it’s something else, it’s less like climbing Montmartre and more like climbing Mont Blanc,” Pitchouguina told AFPTV.
Construction and Transport Minister Janos Lazar urged Hungarians to only head out “if absolutely necessary”.
