LONDON – Heavy snow caused travel chaos across much of northern Europe yesterday, keeping London’s Gatwick airport closed for a second day and disrupting road and rail travel in France, Germany and Switzerland.
Days of sub-zero temperatures and snow in Britain, beginning in Scotland and northern England and moving south, have halted flights and trains and could be costing the economy £1.2 billion (€1.4 billion) a day, according to insurer RSA.
Commuters struggled to get to work as Britain’s worst early winter weather in almost two decades showed no sign of easing.
Gatwick, Britain’s second busiest airport, said it would remain closed until at least six o’clock this morning. Edinburgh airport reopened yesterday evening after closing all day on Wednesday.
An association of independent petrol retailers warned eastern parts of Britain were suffering fuel shortages because of supply problems, particularly in rural areas.
British wholesale gas prices rose to their highest level since early 2009 on high demand for heating, which is draining stocks.
Last winter was the coldest in Britain for three decades and the authorities had hoped to avoid a repeat of the disruption to travel and businesses that caused.
Eurostar, which runs train services connecting Britain to France and Belgium, said it would be operating a “significantly reduced timetable” yesterday. Services would be subject to delays of up to 90 minutes and some would be cancelled, it said.
France’s SNCF state rail company told travellers to expect delays of an hour or so on many services and cancellation of two in 10 trains between Paris and the southeast. Geneva’s Cointrin airport reopened yesterday after the heaviest snowfall in decades closed its only runway for nearly 36 hours. – (Reuters)