Winter snows cause travel chaos in Europe

LONDON, Dec 19, 2009 - Europe braced itself Saturday for a weekend of travel chaos as a cold snap covered parts of the continent in a pre-Christmas blanket of snow.

The Channel Tunnel rail link between Britain and mainland Europe was suspended due to three broken-down Eurostar passenger trains blocking both lines, with passengers being evacuated, operators Eurotunnel told AFP.

The bad weather affected the continent from Britain to the Black Sea, hitting airports, roads and railways, shutting schools and affecting power supplies.

Eurotunnel said the situation was “unprecedented” as efforts went on through the night to get passengers out of the world’s longest uninterrupted undersea link.

“Currently the tunnels are closed,” a spokesman said.A total of around 1,200 to 1,300 passengers from two of the trains in one tunnel were to be evacuated on an empty vehicle shuttle being sent to collect them from the other tunnel, the spokesman said.

The third train, in the other tunnel, was scheduled to be pushed out later.

“At the moment we’re not giving timescales. We hope to get this done as quickly as possible,” the spokesman said.

A fourth passenger train had earlier broken down and was pulled to London.

“Because of the weather, the snow and the extreme cold, we have severe problems with our trains,” a Eurostar spokesman told AFP.The difference in temperature between the chilly open air and the warm tunnel under the English Channel caused the trains to fail, he said.The spokesman said the disruption to services would continue throughout Saturday.

“We strongly advise passengers not to travel. Because of the bad weather, we will have a reduced service,” he said.

In France, the winter snows caused major disruption in Paris, with flights delayed at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, airline officials said.

French meteorologists warned of more snow and ice over the weekend for most of northern France, the French Alps and the Mediterreanean island of Corsica.

Authorities said one homeless man in Val-de-Marne, near Paris, died from hypothermia, while another in Chateauroux, central France, had also likely died from the cold.

The inclement weather also forced France’s high-speed TGV trains to travel at slower speeds, causing delays.In Britain, some 1,500 schools were closed Friday, affecting more than 500,000 children. Meanwhile around 3,000 homes in northwest England were left without power. Several roads were closed, while rail travellers also faced heavy delays.

- AFP