Snow and ice has continued to cause chaos across parts of Europe, grounding flights and clogging roads, with about 1,000 people forced to spend the night at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport as staff worked to clear snow from runways.
At least 800 flights were cancelled on Wednesday at Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs.
Stephan Donker, a spokesperson for the airport, told Reuters it was an “exceptional situation”, adding that Schiphol had set up a few hundred beds, providing pillows, blankets, food and drink for travellers.
In the rest of the Netherlands, many schools were shut and authorities urged people to work from home.
In Paris, about 100 flights were cancelled at Charles de Gaulle airport and a further 40 at Orly as Storm Goretti blew in from the Atlantic coast, blanketing the French capital with snow.
Public bus services in Paris and the surrounding suburbs were suspended due to icy roads, though most metro and suburban rail systems were operating, transport officials said.
The Météo France weather service said 38 of the country’s 96 Metropolitan departments – the mainland and Corsica – were on alert for heavy snow and black ice, with 3cm to 7cm (about 1in to 3in) of snow already accumulated.
It said the cold snap was of “rare intensity for the season”. Authorities had already warned people in the Paris region to avoid unnecessary travel on Wednesday and work from home if possible. On Tuesday, five people were confirmed to have died in road accidents in France.
Despite the fraught conditions, tourists and residents enjoyed the rare sight of a snow-covered Paris, with a few taking the opportunity to ski down the slopes of Montmartre and along the Champs de Mars gardens below the Eiffel Tower.
People grabbed sledges and even plastic bags to slide down any slopes they could find.
“It’s exceptional, it’s incredible. It’s magnificent and we’re enjoying it. We also came across a lot of tourists and they look so happy,” Pierre, a Parisian out admiring the snowy scenery, told Reuters.
In Spain, snow and cold prompted the suspension of one commuter rail line near Madrid and disrupted more than 40 roads.
Heavy snow and rain overnight caused travel disruption across the western Balkans. In the town of Knin, in north-western Croatia, passengers were trapped in a train for more than 12 hours after trees fell on to the tracks.
Some towns in eastern Bosnia and western Serbia declared emergency situations after power and water cuts.
In Poland, schools in many regions were closed due to snow, with some switching to remote learning, while in Hungary, heavy snowfall hit highways and delayed trains and buses.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
