Hundreds of flights have been cancelled in Paris and Amsterdam due to snowfall as storm Goretti tracks across Europe.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, one of the largest in Europe, announced at least 700 flight cancellations because of snow and wind, following days of weather-related travel disruptions.
More than 1,000 people spent the night at Schiphol, the airport said, adding that it had set up camp beds and offered breakfast to travellers forced to sleep there. The number of cancellations is expected to rise throughout the day.
Around 100 flights were cancelled at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport because of snowfall, and a further 40 were cancelled at Orly airport this morning, France’s transport minister said.
The flights disruptions had already been anticipated last night, and Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot told CNews television he was “hoping the situation returns to normal this afternoon”.
All public bus services in Paris and the surrounding suburbs were also suspended due to icy roads, though the vast majority of metro and suburban rail systems were working, transport officials said.
Camp bed were set up in a departure hall at Schiphol Airport
The Meteo France weather service said 38 of the country’s 96 mainland departments were on alert for heavy snow and black ice, with 3-7cm of snow already accumulated.
It said the cold snap was of “rare intensity for the season”, and authorities had already warned people in the Paris region to avoid unnecessary travel and work at home if possible.
Authorities in the Netherlands also told people to plan to stay at home if at all possible, with a fresh blizzard expected to arrive overnight.
Dublin and Cork airports said a number of flights to and from Amsterdam and Paris have been cancelled.
Heavy snow hit the Paris region as daylight broke, while the south of Britain is likely to be most heavily affected tomorrow and Friday. Cold weather warnings covered vast parts of France and Britain.
The UK Met Office said ice warnings would remain in Scotland but would be lifted later in the morning in most of England and Wales.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at Schiphol Airport
Dutch airline KLM has warned it is running out of de-icing fluid for its jets and that delays to supplies had made it difficult to replenish stock. Its partner Air France said it was not aware of any shortages in France.
Schiphol airport said it still had ample supplies of a different type of de-icing fluid it uses to clear runways.
France’s civil aviation authority asked airlines to cut 40% of flights at Paris’ main international airport Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and 25% of flights out of the smaller Orly airport.
In Brussels, some flights were cancelled and the de-icing of runways and the wings of aircraft was causing delays.
A plane is de-iced at Schipol Airport
French officials banned trucks and school buses from the roads in a third of all administrative departments, most in the northern half of the country.
Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said the truck ban would bring some disruption to supply chains, in particular fresh produce.
Heavy snow and rain have also caused havoc across the Western Balkans, closing roads, cutting power and causing rivers to flood.