Snow and Ice Snarl European Holiday Travel

Europe airport chaos slammed
Thousands of angry travellers forced to sleep in airports and train stations across Europe faced more misery as fresh Snowfalls paralysed transport systems just days before Christmas. London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, was operating at only about a third of its normal schedule on Tuesday during a fourth day of disruption, while Frankfurt halted all flights after a new blanketing of snow. For a third day, queues stretched for hours outside the London terminal for the Eurostar train link b...

Snows Delay European Air, Rail Travel for Fourth Day
Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Air Travel disruptions rippled across Europe for a fourth day in the countdown to Christmas as Frankfurt airport was closed this morning after heavy Snowfall. Fraport AG’s Frankfurt airport, Europe’s third busiest, reopened two runways after shutting all three earlier this morning for snow clearance, spokesman Juergen Harrer said in a telephone interview. Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it re-routed Frankfurt-bound long-haul jets to Munich and deployed additional wi...

UK snow disruption - live updates
Britain is not new to cold winters. In 1995 Humberside dropped to -21C, As a child 40 years ago, the snow was 2 feet deep everywhere. Fuel froze in the trains in Inverness when it dipped to -34 C.Why are we so surprised when airports close and roads are impassable. It will probably happen next year too. Would heated runways work, but then everyone still has to get to the airport on the snow covered roads. We heat football pictches but still cancel matches. Anyone booking a flight or organizing ...

European weather chaos spawns outrage, questions
LONDON (AP) — The Europe-wide failure to keep flights operating in cold and snowy conditions is unacceptable and could lead to tighter Regulation by the EU, the continent’s top transportation official said Tuesday as exhausted, outraged passengers struggled to get home for the fourth day. Prime Minister David Cameron said he had offered Troops to help clear delays at Britain’s airports, and promised the second runway at London’s Heathrow would reopen within hours. “...

European weather chaos spawns outrage, questions
Passengers queue as they wait to check-in for their flights outside Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport in London, Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010. Major delays and cancellations persisted Tuesday at European airports including London's Heathrow, and on the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached. Predicted Snowfall at Heathrow did not materialize overnight, allowing cleanup crews to intensify their work, but more than half the flights at Europe's busiest intern B...

European weather chaos spawns outrage, questions
LONDON (AP) - The Europe-wide failure to keep flights operating in cold and snowy conditions is unacceptable and could lead to tighter Regulation by the EU, the continent's top transportation official said Tuesday as exhausted, outraged passengers struggled to get home for the fourth day. Major delays and cancellations disrupted European airports including London's Heathrow, and the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached. Some 72 hours after a five...

Winter disruptions turn travel bitter and chaotic...
LONDON – The Christmas travel season turned angry and chaotic Monday as British officials struggled to clear snow and ice that paralyzed rail and air links and spawned cancellations and delays stranding thousands around the world. More than 48 hours after Britain's last Snowfall, some furious passengers with boarding passes for Monday flights were not even allowed into London's Heathrow Airport. Inside, piles of garbage grew and some people slept on terminal floors. Other travelers waited ...

Snow Joke: The High Cost of Europe's Big Freeze
Forget dreams of a White Christmas. On Tuesday, millions of stranded travelers in Europe faced another day of being trapped in a Noël nightmare, as severe weather continued to disrupt air, rail, and road transportation — and threatened to do so through the holiday weekend. The chaos first broke out late last week, when heavy Snowfall brought movement in many European cities to a crawl. By Dec. 21, the Continent was still in slow mode, as early morning flurries forced Frankfurt's air...

EU: weather chaos could lead to more regulation
LONDON — The Europe-wide failure to keep flights operating in cold and snowy conditions is unacceptable and could lead to tighter Regulation by the EU, the continent’s top transportation official said Tuesday as exhausted, outraged passengers struggled to get home for the fourth day. Major delays and cancellations disrupted European airports including London’s Heathrow, and the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached. Some 72 hours ...

Christmas canceled for 1M air travelers
LONDON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Christmas was canceled for nearly a million air travelers as London Heathrow Airport said flights would be delayed or canceled through at least this weekend. Hundreds of thousands of people may not find seats until the New Year, Heathrow operator BAA Ltd. acknowledged, as snow, ice and frigid temperatures also turned road and rail travel into chaos. The severe weather grounded flights and disrupted travel throughout Northern Europe, with the French army removing stranded...

More flight delays in Britain, Frankfurt
London — Major delays and cancellations persisted Tuesday at European airports including London’s Heathrow, and on the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached. Predicted Snowfall at Heathrow did not materialize overnight, allowing cleanup crews to intensify their work, but more than half the flights at Europe’s busiest international hub were expected to be canceled. Travelers were told not to come to the airport unless they checked...

Weather chaos continues to hit U.K. airports
LONDON - Snow and freezing temperatures continued to ground flights to and from Britain on Tuesday, with travellers hoping to get away for Christmas likely to suffer delays and cancellations for several more days. British Airways said it expected to make a “significant number of cancellations””to its shorthaul services from London’s Heathrow Airport, which will again operate with just one of its two runways on Tuesday. “Severe weather continues to cause signif...

weather chaos could lead to more regulation
BRUSSELS - Europe's top transportation official says the failure to keep flights operating in cold and snowy conditions is unacceptable and could lead to tighter Regulation by the EU. Transportation Commissioner Siim Kallas says new airport regulations due to be published before the summer could include new requirements on "minimal services" airports will have to be able to provide during severe weather. Paisley Dodds and Raphael G. Satter in London, Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels and Ge...

Big freeze causes holiday travel havoc in Europe
LONDON - Snow and freezing temperatures continued to cause holiday Travel Chaos for road, rail and air passengers in Britain and much of Europe Monday, raising fears that many will not get home in time for Christmas. Airlines said that Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, was the worst hit by the poor weather — with only a limited number of flights to arrive and depart. Hundreds of passengers camped overnight in terminal buildings after services were canceled or delayed. British Airwa...

Planes grounded, thousands of festive holidays ruined, drivers stranded for hours as another foot of snow falls on Britain
© PA Shovelling snow while it's still snowing: Workers at Heathrow try to clear the snow after all flights at the airport were grounded over the weekend Up to eight more inches of snow to fall today Severe delays on London Underground during rush hour Man dies after falling through ice on fishing lake BA cancels 70 of 130 departures and 89 of 133 arrivals this morning Eurostar urging passengers not to travel unless absolutely necessary Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports open but exp...

Wintry Weather Causes Holiday Travel Havoc in Europe
Monday, December 20, 2010 Passengers, delayed by Bad Weather, wait in Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport west of London on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Akira Suemori) London (AP) - Snow and freezing temperatures continued to cause holiday Travel Chaos for road, rail and air passengers in Britain and much of Europe Monday, raising fears that many will not get home in time for Christmas. Airlines said that Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, was the worst hit by the poor weather -- with only a ...

Snow and ice expected in the UK until Boxing Day
Forecasters say freezing weather conditions are likely to remain until after Christmas, as a passenger tells Channel 4 News there is 'solidarity' in the airport queues. Heathrow has asked passengers not to travel to the airport unless their airline has confirmed they will be able to fly, as it was still operating a reduced schedule. Thousands of people were stranded at the airport yesterday, and BAA said it was unable to accept any more people at the "extremely congested" Terminals 1 and 3. The...

Christmas chaos as snow snarls European travel
Thousands of angry travellers struggled Monday to get home for Christmas as snow and ice caused fresh chaos at European airports and paralysed roads and railways across the frozen continent. International hubs London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Brussels tried to clear a backlog of passengers forced to sleep on terminal floors for up to three days as they sought to reach their destinations by the end of the week. Authorities in Frankfurt sent in clowns in a bid to cheer up travellers, but fu...

Misery at Heathrow...
The travel misery for tens of thousands of holidaymakers stranded at Heathrow continued today as the airport struggled, while nearby Gatwick enjoyed a better-than-normal service. The smaller London airport was running at 115 per cent capacity, with 696 flights due to arrive and depart throughout the day. There have been 38 cancellations but the airport has also put on an extra 70 flights to deal with the backlog - compared to Heathrow which has been forced to cancel two-thirds of its schedule fo...

Anger rises as travel havoc snarls Britain, Europe
LONDON — Frustrated travelers in Europe expressed fury Monday at transportation officials’ inability to clear snow and ice from planes, runways and high-speed train tracks, failings that have caused holiday Travel Chaos and fears that many will not get home in time for Christmas. The continent’s worst bottleneck was London’s Heathrow Airport, where thousands of travelers were stranded overnight as Flight Cancellations increased even as other major European airports resume...

Fresh snow forces Frankfurt to suspend flights
Passengers are seen at the Terminal 1 in Heathrow Airport in London, as they wait for their flights, most of which were canceled due to severe weather which hit Britain on last weekend, on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. More than 48 hours after the last heavy Snowfall, English authorities continued to struggle to get rid of buildups of snow and ice. The European continent's worst bottleneck was London's Heathrow Airport, where thousands of travelers were stranded overnight as Flight Cancellations increa...

Travelling hopefully: Your snow stories
Heavy Snowfall and icy conditions are causing Travel Chaos in parts of Europe. Germany's main air hub, Frankfurt, was forced to cancel almost 300 flights and Heathrow Airport in the UK said it would continue to run only 30% of flights until 0600 GMT on Wednesday. BBC News website readers describe their experiences of the heavy snow and travel disruptions. Snow vehicles clearing snow at Frankfurt airport, where flights were cancelled. Video by Kristian Schuhmacher I've been working j...

Europe weather ruins Christmas for airlines
Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:18am EST (Corrects figure in second paragraph to about 3,000 flights cancelled, not more than 22,000) By Rhys Jones and James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across Northern Europe on Tuesday, while Retailers fretted they would struggle to make up sales lost due to Bad Weather with just four shopping days to Christmas. Eurocontrol, the umbrella group for air-traffic control across 38 countries, said more services would likely operate...

France travel advice
This advice has been reviewed and reissued with an amendment to the Travel Summary (heavy Snowfall and extremely cold temperatures are causing disruption to travel in northern France and greater Paris area). The overall level of the advice has not changed; there are no travel restrictions in place in France. Like other large European countries, the French authorities continue to consider that there is a high threat of Terrorism. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places...

Weather continues to cause chaos
How are airports kept open in cold weather? Time to prepare for cold winters? The winter weather is continuing to cause problems across the UK, as a thaw seems unlikely for several days. Gatwick Airport is shut until 0600 GMT on Tuesday, and has had 150 staff working through the night to try to clear its runways. Heathrow Airport officials said no more than a third of all flights would operate until 0600 GMT on Wednesday. Forecasters have predicted that any let up in the freezing conditions wi...