Snow and ice forced the grounding of dozens of flights in parts of Europe on Sunday, disrupting the final stretch of the busy New Year holiday travel season.
Here is a summary of some Western European countries affected by winter weather conditions:
Britain
Airports in the northwestern cities of Manchester and Liverpool, central Birmingham and western Bristol reopened on Sunday after runways were closed due to heavy snow across much of England.
North Leeds Bradford Airport, however, said its runway would remain closed until further notice.
The snowfall also led to the closure of some major roads in northern England and the rail line between North Leeds and Halifax was also suspended due to the weather conditions.
Germany
Snowfall and black ice forced the cancellation of dozens of flights at Frankfurt Airport, Germany’s largest, on Sunday.
A total of 120 flights out of about 1,990 flights were canceled at the airport in the country’s west, a spokesman told AFP, adding that take-off and landing runways needed to be cleared, while “de-icing the planes was also required.” is complex and more demanding”.
Poor visibility was another factor behind the announcement.
In Munich, Germany’s second-largest airport, 35 flights were canceled as a precaution late Saturday out of a total of 750 scheduled departures and landings, a spokesman said.
The Met Office warned of heavy rain on Sunday after overnight snowfall and advised travelers to avoid unnecessary travel.
Netherlands
At Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, a major European hub, 68 flights were canceled and more than 200 flights were delayed due to snowy conditions, according to the airport’s website.
Schiphol Airport also warned passengers on its website to check their flight status before travelling.
The cancellations were mainly to European destinations, but long-haul flights were also affected, with services to Newark and Detroit in the United States ending.
spain
In Spain, passengers faced major delays of up to 3.5 hours.
According to the airports’ respective websites, some flights arriving at Madrid and Barcelona airports from European destinations were cancelled, including trips from Frankfurt, Cologne, Munich, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Liverpool, Manchester, London and Paris.
A spokesman for Aena, which operates 46 airports in Spain, said “there may be changes in operations” due to adverse weather in other countries, but could not provide any figures.
No parts of Spain were affected by snowfall or ice warnings on Sunday, but a yellow level warning for wind was issued for parts of the north.
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