Severe snowfall and icy conditions across Europe have led to widespread travel disruptions, with six fatalities reported in weather-related incidents.
In France, authorities confirmed five deaths from hazardous driving conditions. Three people died in separate accidents in the southwestern region of Landes due to black ice, while two others lost their lives in the Paris area. One Parisian incident involved a collision between a driver and a truck, and another occurred when a taxi driver lost control on snowy roads and plunged into the Marne River.
Meanwhile, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, a woman was killed after a tree, weighed down by 16 inches (40 cm) of snow, fell on her, police reported.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled across Europe, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, particularly at airports in Paris and Amsterdam. Travel disruption is expected to continue into Wednesday.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot warned that more snow is expected overnight Tuesday into Wednesday and urged citizens to limit travel and work from home where possible. France’s national weather service has placed 38 districts on orange alert for snow and black ice. Many train services have also been suspended in affected areas.
At Paris’ Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, about 40% of flights were cancelled Wednesday morning to allow staff to clear runways. Orly Airport planned to cancel a quarter of flights during the same period.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport faced similar disruption, with over 400 flights cancelled and hundreds of passengers stranded. KLM, which operates many of the flights, said it was running low on de-icing fluid due to extreme weather and supply delays. Long queues and frustration were reported, with passengers struggling to get information on rescheduled flights.
Spanish traveler Javier Sepulveda described the situation at Schiphol as “chaotic, unacceptable, frustrating, and annoying,” noting he had waited over six hours in line at the KLM help desk.
Despite efforts by snow-clearing crews, a further 600 flights scheduled for Wednesday were also cancelled, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Rail services have also been affected. In the Netherlands, all train operations briefly stopped Tuesday morning following an IT outage. Some services resumed after 09:00 local time (10:00 GMT), but delays and cancellations continued throughout the day. Eurostar trains between Amsterdam and Paris were either cancelled or running late.
