Snow in Europe affects air transport and causes circulation problems

The storm of cold, ice and snow that is hitting much of Europe these days has left problems in traffic and air transport, with Frankfurt airport, Germany's main airport, at half throttle, after it temporarily paralyzed all its operations this Wednesday.

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A storm that has tens of thousands of Europeans on alert: 25 departments of France, a dozen regions of Spain, most of Belgium, except for the coast, and Luxembourg, among other places.

The snow that has fallen in northern France, particularly on the night of Wednesday to Thursdayhas caused hundreds of kilometers of traffic jams, traffic problems and the suspension of many public transports.

More than 1,100 kilometers of accumulated delays have been recorded throughout the country, according to traffic watchdog Bison Futéand that means a lot more than usual, largely because of the bad weather.

The snowfalls in the last few hours have occurred in the regions of Normandy, Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France and Champagne-Ardenne, and during the day they will move through the northeast to Alsace, on the German border .

Météo France explained on its website that between 2 and 10 centimeters had generally accumulated.and up to a fortnight locally.

In the Paris region there are between one and four centimeters, and the RATP company that manages metropolitan transport interrupted bus circulation early in the morning, although it gradually resumed.

The circulation of trucks has also been restricted and school transportation has been cancelled. in many other departments of northern France.

The German Frankfurt airport, for its part, activity resumed this Thursday, although with numerous cancellationsafter having to temporarily paralyze all its operations on Wednesday due to ice and heavy snowfall.

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According to a spokeswoman for the airport manager Fraport, cited by the media, more than 300 of the 1,000 flights scheduled for this Thursday in Frankfurt have had to be cancelled.

Belgium and Luxembourg also remain on alert this Thursday due to adverse weather conditionswith snow, hail and ice in most of its territories, which has led the authorities of both countries to declare a yellow alert.

Night frosts will become widespread in the interior of the countryso “we will also have to be attentive” to the formation of ice patches or hard snow, said the Belgian meteorological institute.

Weather conditions that could lead to delays and cancellations in the circulation of trains in Belgium, which operate with more difficulties than usual, especially on the Namur-Brussels and Mons-Brussels routes.

In Luxembourg, bad weather It has also paralyzed traffic and has especially affected the capital's trams and buses.according to local media Luxemburger Wort, while the trains have only suffered occasional cancellations or delays.

Besides, The storm has caused several traffic accidents in the country throughout this morningas well as danger alerts due to several trucks stuck on the roads, whose maximum speed has been limited to 50 kilometers per hour.

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Storm Irene is losing strength in Spain, although the warning is still maintained in twelve regions due to adverse coastal phenomena or strong gusts of wind, which will range between 70 and 90 kilometers per hour, reports the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) in its Web.

And while waiting for the arrival of a new storm, which will once again activate alerts in several Spanish provinces due to rain, Almost twenty rivers in the center of the country are already at risk of overflowing.

EFE