Snow, ice snarls post-holiday travel in Europe

Frankfurt: Snow and black ice led to a mess at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s busiest. They had to cancel around 120 flights out of nearly 2,000 scheduled. The airport staff mentioned that clearing the runways and de-icing planes was a real challenge.

In the UK, airports in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Bristol reopened after heavy snow caused some runway closures. However, Leeds Bradford airport was still shut down. Plus, some major roads in northern England were closed, and train services were suspended due to the weather.

Over in Munich, they canceled 35 flights just to be safe, while Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport saw 68 flights canceled and over 200 delayed. Passengers were advised to check their flight status before heading out.

In Spain, travelers faced delays of up to 3.5 hours, with some flights to and from Madrid and Barcelona getting canceled. Interestingly, no snow warnings were issued for Spain, but there was a wind warning in the north.

Lastly, Prague’s Vaclav Havel airport had to shut down due to freezing rain and black ice, affecting many flights. Some planes even had to turn back to their departure airports. What a chaotic start to the new year for travelers!