Most of western Britain, Northern Ireland and northern Scotland suffered blizzards, while southern England was also blanketed in snow, disrupting trains and road traffic in what Transport Secretary Philip Hammond described as “extraordinary” conditions.
Runways at both of Britain’s busiest airports, London Heathrow and London Gatwick, were closed to allow the snow to be cleared.
British Airways cancelled all flights from Heathrow and all European and domestic flights from Gatwick between 1000 GMT and 1700 GMT on Saturday. About 200 of Gatwick’s 500 scheduled flights had been cancelled by mid-day, the second time this month that heavy snow had forced its closure.
Germany’s biggest airline Lufthansa on Saturday announced the cancellation of domestic and European flights to and from Frankfurt airport due to “an expected worsening of weather conditions”.
The Arctic conditions in Britain also hit rail and road travel, with the media reporting that hundreds of motorists were stranded in their cars in freezing conditions overnight in the northwest, with many accidents reported. Elsewhere, Southampton Airport in southern England was closed until 1200 GMT due to the adverse weather, while flights to certain destinations from Birmingham Airport in the Midlands were also grounded. Passengers also faced disruptions at Exeter, London City, Aberdeen and Cardiff.
Heavy snow disrupted European air travel and stranded hundreds of drivers in their cars as far south as Italy as a white Christmas appeared increasingly likely for many places.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2010.
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