Snow and cold continue to cause travel chaos in Europe

Monday, 20th December 2010

Across Great Britain and northern Europe, many travellers have been hit by major chaos caused by the freezing cold and waves of heavy snowfall. The Arctic conditions have caused chaos for both air and rail travel, as well as roads across the region.

London’s Heathrow airport was open on Monday but officials said both departures and arrivals would be limited. During the weekend, the airport had only a single runway iin operation. On Sunday, Heathrow stopped taking arrivals.

The winter travel chaos has hit both the holiday travel season and the Christmas shopping season. Heathrow airport said it is expecting further delays and cancellations over the coming days.

In an official statement posted online, the airport said airlines would be returning diverted plans and crews to their regular locations. The statement added that officials would continue to watch the situation and would work to reduce the effects of the heavy weather conditions.

In the terminals at Heathrow airport, hundreds of stranded passengers spent up to two nights having to sleep on seats and floors. After flights were diverted to places like Dublin, many other travellers were forced to spend some of the holidays in hotels at locations away from their intended destinations.

Stranded and diverted travellers were left scrambling for alternative means of getting to their destinations. Some travellers were said to be attempting to book trips on ferries in a bid to get from Ireland to England.

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