Death and transport chaos as storms sweep across Europe
Source: Agencies |
December 22, 2009, Tuesday
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SNOWSTORMS and subfreezing temperatures have battered Europe, killing 29 people in Poland alone and wreaking havoc on air, train and car travelers from the Nordics to Italy on the last weekend before Christmas.
France's civil aviation authority ordered the cancellation of 40 percent of flights out of Paris's Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports on Sunday.
The authority later said it was asking airlines flying out of Charles de Gaulle to cancel 20 percent of yesterday morning's flights because of forecasts of intermittent snowfall.
Belgium was also badly hit, while travelers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport faced delays and cancellations. In western Germany, heavy snow temporarily closed Duesseldorf airport, with flights canceled or rerouted.
Flights at Manchester Airport, Britain's busiest outside London, resumed after its only runway was briefly closed for snow clearance.
In Brussels, passengers lined up for several hours in an effort to rebook flights.
"There's been no information, no people to ask, no nothing," said Monica Estaban, a 21-year-old student returning home to Barcelona for Christmas. "I can't wait to get out of here. I'll take whatever flight I can."
There was trouble on the railways too, with trains from Belgium to Italy delayed by icy, frozen tracks.
So far the cold snap has been deadliest in Poland, where 29 people froze to death on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures fell as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius overnight in some places.
Police appealed to Poles to alert police if they came across homeless or drunk people lying outdoors, attempting to lower the number of people who die each winter from the bitter cold.
In Austria, authorities reported three people froze to death as they tried to make their way home after evenings out. Two were found in the southern province of Styria, where temperatures fell below -20 degrees, and a third near the city of Salzburg.
A homeless Polish man was found dead on Saturday in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where temperatures fell to around freezing.
In Germany, temperatures sank to between -15 and -20 degrees overnight across much of the country. A homeless man in Mannheim apparently froze to death on Saturday as he slept near disused railway tracks after drinking, police said.
In Italy, heavy snow and subfreezing temperatures were causing havoc.
In Sicily, the Defense Ministry dispatched helicopters to ferry civil protection crews to people in need of urgent medical care. Italian farm lobby Coldiretti warned that the ice-and-snow-blanketed roads were delaying the distribution of milk and produce while the freezing temperatures risked damaging fruit trees, olive groves and vineyards.
In Finland, at least four people were killed in road accidents after an afternoon blizzard.
France's civil aviation authority ordered the cancellation of 40 percent of flights out of Paris's Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports on Sunday.
The authority later said it was asking airlines flying out of Charles de Gaulle to cancel 20 percent of yesterday morning's flights because of forecasts of intermittent snowfall.
Belgium was also badly hit, while travelers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport faced delays and cancellations. In western Germany, heavy snow temporarily closed Duesseldorf airport, with flights canceled or rerouted.
Flights at Manchester Airport, Britain's busiest outside London, resumed after its only runway was briefly closed for snow clearance.
In Brussels, passengers lined up for several hours in an effort to rebook flights.
"There's been no information, no people to ask, no nothing," said Monica Estaban, a 21-year-old student returning home to Barcelona for Christmas. "I can't wait to get out of here. I'll take whatever flight I can."
There was trouble on the railways too, with trains from Belgium to Italy delayed by icy, frozen tracks.
So far the cold snap has been deadliest in Poland, where 29 people froze to death on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures fell as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius overnight in some places.
Police appealed to Poles to alert police if they came across homeless or drunk people lying outdoors, attempting to lower the number of people who die each winter from the bitter cold.
In Austria, authorities reported three people froze to death as they tried to make their way home after evenings out. Two were found in the southern province of Styria, where temperatures fell below -20 degrees, and a third near the city of Salzburg.
A homeless Polish man was found dead on Saturday in the French Mediterranean port city of Marseille, where temperatures fell to around freezing.
In Germany, temperatures sank to between -15 and -20 degrees overnight across much of the country. A homeless man in Mannheim apparently froze to death on Saturday as he slept near disused railway tracks after drinking, police said.
In Italy, heavy snow and subfreezing temperatures were causing havoc.
In Sicily, the Defense Ministry dispatched helicopters to ferry civil protection crews to people in need of urgent medical care. Italian farm lobby Coldiretti warned that the ice-and-snow-blanketed roads were delaying the distribution of milk and produce while the freezing temperatures risked damaging fruit trees, olive groves and vineyards.
In Finland, at least four people were killed in road accidents after an afternoon blizzard.
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