Berlin/London: Air and train services in southern Germany face a second day of disruption because of snow still clogging up the area.
Munich Airport reopened on Sunday though more than half of scheduled flights are cancelled, according to the airport’s spokesperson. Trains are running on only a limited basis and passengers are being urged to postpone trips to and from the city.
“There are still disruptions due to the amount of snow,” an airport spokesman said in an emailed statement. Travellers are urged to contact carriers before heading there to catch flights.
Germany’s second-busiest airport was forced to closed on Friday night, causing knock-on cancellations throughout on Saturday in Frankfurt, the country’s biggest hub. Switzerland and Austria experienced snow disruption too.
In Munich, 560 of 880 planned flights have been cancelled on Sunday. Rail travel may be affected into Monday, according to Deutsche Bahn, the national operator.
The snow is also still impacting travel elsewhere, though flights are largely operating as usual. In Innsbruck, the Austrian city’s airport isn’t facing any further disruption, while Zurich may experience only isolated cancellations.
“Everything is closed. Online doesn’t work. Well, you have to be patient... there’s nothing you can do,” Magda Shokosa, a stranded passenger at Munich Airport, said.
“We had to dig our way into the car park with shovels and then take a taxi because the buses weren’t running,” said another passenger, Brigitte Schloessel.
Dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol airport were also cancelled on Sunday due to snowfall expected to reach the Netherlands in the afternoon.
Schiphol’s website around midday indicated almost 150 incoming and outgoing flights had been cancelled. Dutch airline KLM, the airport’s main user, told Dutch news agency ANP it had scrapped 65 European flights in the afternoon and evening
Motorists spend night in cars
Heavy snow in northern England forced motorists to seek shelter or spend the night in their cars and knocked out power to more than 2,500 customers, officials said Sunday.
Trucks jackknifed in the snow, blocking highways, as drivers reported taking hours to complete short trips while others were forced to find a place to stay along their routes or in their vehicles.
“It really feels like you’re walking through the Alps or some ski resort at the moment,” Harrison Ward said in the Lake District community of Ambleside. “Once a few cars have stopped or crashed or been abandoned, then it all comes to a halt.”
Ant Brett said he had been stuck in his car for 19 hours since Saturday afternoon while driving from Essex to Cumbria, a journey that should have taken just over 5 hours.
“I was heading up to a family wedding — it’s fair to say I didn’t make it,” he told the BBC. “I’m down to my last bit of water and having to ration it. I know the emergency services are busy but we’ve just been left here without help.”
Erick Mattinson hunkered down in an Ambleside church after driving to collect his wife and a friend after their bus was canceled. It took him 5.5 hours to get there from Keswick, a drive that would normally take 30 minutes.
“The snow’s horrendous,” he told Sky News. The only saving grace, he said, is that a store in town had sold them some wine.
Over 2,500 people were without electricity in Cumbria, Electricity North West reported. It expected to restore power by late Sunday night.
In the US, winter weather brought high winds and snow to parts of the Pacific Northwest, knocking out power in some areas and dumping fresh snow across the Cascade Range.
Thousands of households were without power Saturday morning in the greater Seattle area after a night of rain and wind, the Seattle Times reported.
Winter even arrived atop the summits of Hawaii, which saw the first flakes of the season due to the Kona Low weather system that brought heavy rain to lower elevations starting Wednesday.
It is expected to slow over the weekend, according to Fox Weather. Experts are keeping an eye on several feet of snow continuing to fall through Saturday in Oregon and Washington.
Heavy snow will be confined to higher elevations, causing an increased flood risk for western-facing slopes of the Cascades.
