Europe hit by blizzards, air traffic havoc, deaths
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Members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment cross Horse Guards Parade in the snow in central London Jan 18, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Deer stand in the snow in Richmond Park, London January 18, 2013. A band of heavy snow affected most of Britain on Friday, bringing chaos to roads, and causing power cuts and school closures. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A woman carrying a red umbrella walks across Westminster Bridge, with the Palace of Westminster in the background as it begins to snow in London, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. -- PHOTO: AP
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A small snow man sits on a bench in Regent's Park after snowfall in central London on Jan 18, 2013. Snow swept across Britain, forcing airports to cancel hundreds of flights and more than 3,000 schools to close. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Passengers queue at for the check-in desks at a busy Heathrow airport in west London on Jan 19, 2013 after hundreds of flights were cancelled due to severe cold weather and snow. Passengers were forced to sleep on the floor at London's Heathrow Airport overnight, media said Saturday, after heavy snow grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of people stranded. A spokesman for the airport, one of the busiest in the world, said a further 100 flights had been cancelled on Saturday morning, on top of about 400 that were grounded Friday by the bad weather sweeping Britain. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An airport employee de-ices a British Airways plane on the tarmac at Heathrow airport in west London on Jan 19, 2013 after hundreds of flights were cancelled due to severe cold weather and snow. Passengers were forced to sleep on the floor at London's Heathrow Airport overnight, media said Saturday, after heavy snow grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of people stranded. A spokesman for the airport, one of the busiest in the world, said a further 100 flights had been cancelled on Saturday morning, on top of about 400 that were grounded Friday by the bad weather sweeping Britain. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A man rides bicycle as he makes his way along a snow-covered area at the Champs de Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Jan 19, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Picture of a snowman built in front of the Eiffel tower taken on Jan 19, 2013 in Paris, after the snow fell over the French capital overnight. -- PHOTO: AFP
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People walk along on the ice of the River Neva in temperatures around -17 deg C in the central part of the city of St. Petersburg on Jan 19, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment cross Horse Guards Parade in the snow in central London Jan 18, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Deer stand in the snow in Richmond Park, London January 18, 2013. A band of heavy snow affected most of Britain on Friday, bringing chaos to roads, and causing power cuts and school closures. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A woman carrying a red umbrella walks across Westminster Bridge, with the Palace of Westminster in the background as it begins to snow in London, Friday, Jan. 18, 2013. -- PHOTO: AP
A small snow man sits on a bench in Regent's Park after snowfall in central London on Jan 18, 2013. Snow swept across Britain, forcing airports to cancel hundreds of flights and more than 3,000 schools to close. -- PHOTO: AFP
Passengers queue at for the check-in desks at a busy Heathrow airport in west London on Jan 19, 2013 after hundreds of flights were cancelled due to severe cold weather and snow. Passengers were forced to sleep on the floor at London's Heathrow Airport overnight, media said Saturday, after heavy snow grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of people stranded. A spokesman for the airport, one of the busiest in the world, said a further 100 flights had been cancelled on Saturday morning, on top of about 400 that were grounded Friday by the bad weather sweeping Britain. -- PHOTO: AFP
An airport employee de-ices a British Airways plane on the tarmac at Heathrow airport in west London on Jan 19, 2013 after hundreds of flights were cancelled due to severe cold weather and snow. Passengers were forced to sleep on the floor at London's Heathrow Airport overnight, media said Saturday, after heavy snow grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of people stranded. A spokesman for the airport, one of the busiest in the world, said a further 100 flights had been cancelled on Saturday morning, on top of about 400 that were grounded Friday by the bad weather sweeping Britain. -- PHOTO: AFP
A man rides bicycle as he makes his way along a snow-covered area at the Champs de Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Jan 19, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Picture of a snowman built in front of the Eiffel tower taken on Jan 19, 2013 in Paris, after the snow fell over the French capital overnight. -- PHOTO: AFP
People walk along on the ice of the River Neva in temperatures around -17 deg C in the central part of the city of St. Petersburg on Jan 19, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON (AFP) - Extreme winter weather swept across western Europe on Saturday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at London's main international airport and claiming several lives in Spain, Portugal and France, including those of three Mali-bound soldiers.
The frigid temperatures also caused delays and cancelations on major railway lines including the Eurostar train service, and transport authorities warned of further traffic disruptions with more blizzards forecast for Sunday.
In London, thousands of passengers were forced to camp out on the floors of Heathrow Airport overnight as hundreds of flights to and from the British capital were cancelled.
"There are lots of bodies lying around in the airport. If feels like there's been a natural disaster," Mr Jerry Meng from Los Angeles, whose flight to New York was cancelled, told British broadcaster BBC.
