Heavy snow hits Europe, cancels some flights

London: Commuters and air passengers faced disruption across much of Europe on Friday after heavy snowfalls, with forecasters saying more could be on the way.

Northwest Europe shivered under the lash of a snowy pre-Christmas cold snap Friday that closed airports, caused chaos on the roads and gave school kids an early start to their holidays.

Two of London's airports were closed overnight after heavy snow fell across south and east England, with at least 18 incoming flights being diverted from Gatwick to other British destinations.

Gatwick reopened after runways were cleared, but London Luton stayed shut. Heathrow, the world's busiest international hub, remained open.

The Met Office said up to 20 cm (8 in) of snow could fall in southern and eastern parts of England while some northern areas were also affected as wintry weather and freezing temperatures caused road, rail and air travel problems.

Essex Police said they had dealt with 180 incidents related to the bad weather between 10 p.m. on Thursday and 5 a.m. on Friday, with blizzards stranding 70 lorries on the A120 out of Harwich on the eastern coast.

"With further snow forecast over the next few days, I would advise people to make journeys only if they are absolutely necessary," said Chief Inspector Jon Dodman, head of an emergency special operations centre at Essex Police.

Early flights to and from Gatwick and Luton Airports were cancelled due to snowfall on the runways.

"We are working closely with our airline and business partners to re-open the runway as soon as it is safe to do so," Gatwick Airport said on its website.

Luton said flights would be suspended until 10 am while airline EasyJet said all its flights from the two airports before 11.30 am had been cancelled.

Heathrow said 70 flights to and from the airport scheduled throughout the day had been cancelled, although both its runways had remained open.

Rail Operators said some train services across southern England had been cancelled or were suffering severe delays, although most were expecting to run a full service throughout the day.