World News | Heavy Snowfall and Freezing Rain Disrupt Transport in Scandinavia and Germany
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Heavy snow and freezing rain hit parts of northern and central Europe on Wednesday, bringing transport to a halt in some Scandinavian regions and causing major disruption at airports in Frankfurt and Oslo.
Berlin, Jan 17 (AP) Heavy snow and freezing rain hit parts of northern and central Europe on Wednesday, bringing transport to a halt in some Scandinavian regions and causing major disruption at airports in Frankfurt and Oslo.
At Frankfurt Airport, Germany's busiest, freezing rain forced a halt to takeoffs as freezing rain persisted on Wednesday lunchtime, German news agency dpa reported. The airport cited a danger of de-iced aircraft icing up again as they taxied toward the runway, and said it planned to halt landings as well in mid-afternoon. Hundreds of flights already had been cancelled before the halt to takeoffs.
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The airport in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, was closed temporarily as heavy snow reduced visibility for pilots. Airport spokesperson Ylva Celius said the huge amount of snow and wind hampering traffic was “very unusual" and the resulting closure was ”extremely rare.”
Heavy snowfall brought traffic to a standstill in large parts of Scandinavia, with roads and highways clogged with stranded motorists, public transportation delays, cancellations on some ferry routes, and the closure of some bridges. Police in several parts of Denmark urged people to stay home. Southern Sweden also saw heavy snowfall.
The freezing rain across western and southern Germany led to many accidents on icy roads in the early morning hours of Wednesday. As a precaution, many schools and kindergartens closed for the day and some companies offered their employees the option of working from home.
National train operator Deutsche Bahn cancelled several long-distance trains and announced that the maximum speed of its ICE high-speed trains was limited to 200 kilometres per hour for the day as a precaution.
The small airport in Saarbruecken closed for the day, and there were delays and cancellations in Munich and elsewhere. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)