FLIGHTS FROM Heathrow Airport, which was shut down yesterday by heavy snows for all bar a few departing flights, are expected to resume today if overnight efforts to clear runways and aircraft of ice are successful.
However, the British Meteorological Office has warned that the United Kingdom is in line for further heavy snowfalls in the run-up to Christmas Day.
Stranded passengers, some of whom have been stuck at Heathrow for two days, slept on the floors of terminal buildings last night after flight plans were derailed by -5 degree temperatures on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Even if flights resume services are expected to be badly affected for days ahead.
Airports elsewhere in the UK were also badly affected on the busiest travelling weekend of the year. Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports managed to open, though with significant delays. Gatwick, on the southern side of London, was also affected but not to the same extent as Heathrow. Stansted, Luton, Exeter, London City, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Cardiff and Birmingham airports also faced significant delays.
Reporting that the UK is facing some of its harshest weather for decades, the Met Office said temperatures fell to -19 in Pershore in the midlands, and -14 in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, while icy winds are likely to mean values will remain well below zero even in places that escape fresh snow.
The Automobile Association (AA) said it dealt with 16,000 emergency calls yesterday, twice its usual heightened pre-Christmas numbers.
Train services were affected in many places, with companies operating a reduced service in many areas to ensure rolling stock is in the right locations to take commuters to work.
Complaining of a lack of grit on primary routes, AA president Edmund King said “thousands of roads with compacted snow which on hills at minus temperatures are like ski jumps”, adding that many roads have been blocked by jack-knifed trucks.
Police throughout the UK warned that many motorists are still driving too fast, despite numerous warnings.
Meanwhile, heavy snow caused major disruption at several German airports, with the biggest one, Frankfurt, the worst hit.
More than 500 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt and more than 1,000 stranded passengers were forced to sleep on camp beds at the airport, some for two nights. National carrier Lufthansa warned that disruption, delays and cancellations would continue.
German airlines advised passengers to change their plans and travel by train if possible, but rail operator Deutsche Bahn in turn urged people not to take to the rails in the afternoon as weather problems and a surge in demand caused delays and long queues at stations.
The cold and snowfall in eastern Europe are not unusually severe, and few problems have been reported across the region, although Budapest airport did close for a few hours on Saturday afternoon before resuming normal service.
Though used to icy conditions, Scandinavia is experiencing transport difficulties, with dozens of flights cancelled at Copenhagen airport and train travel severely affected between Denmark and Sweden, forcing many people to take replacement bus services.
Heavy snowfall, bitter winds and temperatures dropping to -20 have made road travel treacherous in Sweden, where meteorologists say the start of winter has been the coldest in more than a century.
Dozens of road accidents across the country have been blamed on the bad weather.