Snow disrupts life in Europe

A snowplow drives past trucks on the taxiway of Geneva International Airport while the airport is temporarily closed because of heavy snowfall in Geneva, Switzerland. (EPA)

By AGENCIES

Published: Dec 1, 2010 22:58 Updated: Dec 1, 2010 23:02

GENEVA: Heavy snow and subzero temperatures swept across Europe, killing at least 13 people, closing major airports in Britain and Switzerland and causing hundreds of highway accidents.

Gatwick, London's second largest airport, and Geneva, a major hub for low-cost carrier Easyjet, were forced to shut down Wednesday as staff struggled to clear runways of snow.

Edinburgh airport in Scotland, Leeds airport in northern England, and Chambery and Grenoble in southeastern France also were closed.

Eurocontrol, the central air control agency, reported severe flight delays in Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Prague and Paris Orly.

In Poland, police said eight homeless men died Tuesday night after a bitter cold front roared in, with temperatures falling to around -20 Celsius. The eastern Polish city of Bialystok hit -26 Celsius on Tuesday night.

Winter weather caused some 2,000 accidents on German roads Tuesday, officials said.

In northern Austria, police said a 69-year-old retiree froze to death overnight when he slipped on a snow-covered bridge on his way home from a funeral and lost consciousness.

Officials at Gatwick, south of London, said the airport would remain closed until early Thursday, stranding about 600 flights that were expected to leave Wednesday. Extra staff were working "around the clock" to clear the runways, and passengers were advised to check with their airline or Gatwick's website for updates.

Gatwick was under five to six inches of snow Wednesday morning and has seen continuous snowfall throughout the day, said spokeswoman Andrea Hopkins, adding that she was unable to provide a current estimate.

Geneva's airport was also shut. The city has seen 10 inches of fresh snow in the past 24 hours and many travelers unable to find a room spent the night in civil protection shelters.

Zurich, Switzerland's biggest airport, reported delays and cancellations on the day many VIPs, including former President Bill Clinton and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, were traveling to FIFA's headquarters to push their countries' bids to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.

Airport spokeswoman Sonja Zoechling said the presence of so many private jets and charter planes in Zurich meant the airport had to turn down requests Wednesday for diverted landings.

Swiss weather agency Meteosuisse forecast more snow as a low-pressure front centered over western Europe moves slowly eastward. "We've got unusually cold air over large parts of the eastern Atlantic, and where that meets warm air coming for example from the Mediterranean you have a lot of snow," said meteorologist Heinz Maurer.

He predicted that snowfall would ease in central Europe by Thursday, but nights will remain extremely cold.

La Brevine, in northwestern Switzerland, recorded temperatures of -31 degrees Celsius on Tuesday night, Maurer said.

Even the undersea Channel Tunnel was hit with travel delays due to the snow. Six Eurostar trains to and from London were canceled and delays on other services were expected.

In Ireland, flights from Dublin airport were temporarily suspended early Wednesday while thick snow and ice was cleared from a main runway. With many schools closed and minor roads impassable due to snow, authorities urged drivers to stay home unless absolutely necessary.

Nine regions in northwest and southeast France were put on a weather alert, warning of snow and ice until Thursday morning. SNCF, France's national railway, said traffic on the main southeast routes had been affected by heavy snow, but 80 percent of its high-speed trains were still running.

In Poland, police were carrying out patrols to find homeless people and get them into shelters. The bad weather was also blamed for a collision between a tram and a car that killed one person in Szczecin.

Further south, some 300 people were evacuated from their homes in the northern part of Montenegro because of heavy rains. Authorities in the town of Berane said dozens of homes and roads were flooded and more evacuations were likely.

Neighboring Albania declared a state of emergency due to widespread flooding in Shkodra district, 120 km northwest of the capital, Tirana, along the Drini River delta.