Snow Mars Christmas Plans for Thousands of Europeans

A pedestrian walks in snow-covered Paris. Photo by bookclass.wordpress.com

Two thousand travelers have been left stranded at the main Paris airport, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle, as a relentless snow storm continues to pound France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Half the flights at Charles de Gaulle have been canceled, largely because of a shortage of de-icing fluid, BBC reports Friday. The French authorities said fresh supplies of de-icing fluid were on their way, but would not arrive before Monday.

Passengers were also stranded overnight at Charleroi airport in Belgium although some flights were operating on Friday morning. Cancellations were reported at Brussels airport as well and buses were not running in the capital and other areas.

In Belgium and Germany hundreds of accidents were reported on the icy roads and police are advising drivers to stay at home.

In western Germany, traffic was reported as paralyzed in parts of North Rhine Westphalia. Further east, the railway line between Berlin and Hanover was blocked because of frozen overhead power-lines.

Part of the city of Venice in Italy were flooded after lasting downpours in the area where unusually high water levels were reported, causing the evacuation of people living near the Venice lagoon and in the town of Vicenza.

Heavy snow was forecast for parts of Scotland and north-east England on Friday and passengers hoping to return home for Christmas by train were warned of reduced services on several lines.

Meanwhile dense fog caused many delays and cancellations at the airports of Sofia and Plovdiv in Bulgaria.

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