Travel chaos across Europe

Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across northern Europe today, with travellers trying to get away for Christmas…

Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across northern Europe today, with travellers trying to get away for Christmas set to be frustrated further with more severe weather on the horizon.

British Airways said arctic conditions would continue to cause major disruption to its operations and that more travel chaos was possible.

Over 1,000 flights at Germany's main airports were cancelled and many more delayed after up to 40cm of fresh snow blanketed the country today, though Lufthansa said it was confident it would operate a full service by Wednesday.

Air France said there were serious delays at the two main Parisian airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly following a snowstorm this morning.

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Cargo operations have been hit at Charles De Gaulle with some night flights cancelled, threatening to disrupt industries such as auto manufacture which rely on just-in-time inventory delivery.

British Airways said London's Heathrow airport would be operating at significantly reduced capacity for several days as ground crews continued to clear snow and ice.

It said some long-haul flights and all short-haul flights after midday today would be cancelled.

With only one of its two runways operational, London's mayor Boris Johnson called for a "Herculean effort" by Heathrow operator BAA and its contractors to get planes back in the air.

Britain's Met Office said it expected "freezing temperatures and light to heavy snow" around Heathrow this afternoon, with further snow expected tomorrow morning.

BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, expects more flights to leave Heathrow today than yesterday, despite forecasts for more severe weather, but urged customers not to travel to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking on one of the flights that is operating.

BA said it was aiming to run as many flights as it could from Gatwick, south of London, and the smaller London City airport in the east of the city.

A BA spokeswoman said it was too early to give any estimates on the likely cost of the disruption.

Reuters