Snowstorms spark travel mayhem, power cuts in northern Europe

Gale-force winds and storms barrelled through northern Europe on Friday, claiming more lives, causing travel mayhem, shutting schools, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands in freezing temperatures.

Some 50 flights were cancelled at London's Heathrow Airport, affecting thousands of passengers. Air travel was disrupted across Europe from the Czech Republic to Moscow, where over 300 flights were cancelled at four airports serving the Russian capital.

Forecasters from Britain to Germany urged people to stay indoors as they issued weather warnings, including the rare, highest-level red wind alert for the British Isles of Scilly and Cornwall in southwestern England.

A child lies on a sledge as his mother takes a selfie, after Storm Goretti's arrival amid a week of plunging temperatures, in Buxton. Reuters

Nearly 50,000 homes in England and Wales were still without power on Friday afternoon, according to the National Grid energy provider, most of them in southwest England.

Storm Goretti brought strong winds and heavy snow to parts of the country overnight. It closed more than 250 schools across Scotland, which has struggled through bad weather for much of the first week back after the Christmas break.

People look at birds as they stand on snow, after Storm Goretti's arrival amid a week of plunging temperatures, in Buxton, Britain. Reuters

In France, Goretti cut power to some 320,000 homes, most of them in the northern Normandy region, the Enedis power provider said.

Overnight, gusts of up to 216 kilometres per hour were registered in France's northwestern Manche region, authorities said.

The winds felled trees, with at least one crashing on homes in France's Seine-Maritime region, without injuries, authorities said.

Gusts of up to 160kph lashed England and Wales, with the Met Office forecasting agency warning of "very large waves" bringing "dangerous conditions to coastal areas."

A child throws snowballs for the dog in Beacon Park, Lichfield, as Storm Goretti brings heavy snowfall across the West Midlands, Britain. Reuters

It also issued an amber snow warning in Wales, central England and parts of northern England, predicting snow of up to 30 centimetres (11 inches) in some areas.

'HURRICANE-FORCE' WINDS

More than 13 people have died in weather-related accidents this week across Europe.

The latest were in Bavaria, southern Germany, where a road accident linked to the storms killed two people Friday morning, said police.

Also in Bavaria, a 52-year-old man died Thursday after veering off the road and crashing into a tree while driving round a bend, local police said.

A man braves sub-zero temperatures while begging for some donations at the snow covered Mariahilfer shopping street in Vienna. AFP

Turkish media reported five deaths: two were killed in separate accidents involving dislodged roof tiles, a Syrian man died when a wall fell on him, a construction worker was swept into the Aegean Sea, and a pensioner fell off a roof.

Schools remained shut in parts of northern France, where weather alerts have been issued in 30 other regions.

Giant waves crashed over harbour walls across France's far northwest overnight and, as the storm moved east, it brought flooding and forced the closure of roads and ports. including Dieppe.

A person cycles along a snowy road, as winter weather from storm 'Elli' brings snow and freezing temperatures to parts of Germany, in Hamburg. Reuters

Northern Germany faced severe disruption from heavy snow and high winds brought by Storm Elli, with schools ordered closed in the cities of Hamburg and Bremen and long-distance rail services cancelled.

Flights were cancelled or postponed at Hamburg airport while several main roads were paralysed, including some hundreds of miles to the south in the Frankfurt region.

People walk across Red Square during heavy snowfall in Moscow on Friday. Reuters

The German weather service warned of "hurricane-force" winds in areas on the North Sea as well as in the southwest, and up to 15 centimetres of snow in parts of the country on Friday.

Two Bundesliga football matches between FC Saint Pauli and RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen and TSG Hoffenheim scheduled for Saturday have been cancelled due to the current weather conditions, the German Football League (DFL) announced.

Carmaker Volkswagen shut its factory at Emden in northeastern Germany, where about 8,000 people work. The country's rail operator Deutsche Bahn said traffic would resume gradually through Saturday.

FLOODWATERS RECEDING

Some 600 schools were closed in Moldova until next Monday and around 1,000 homes were without electricity in Romania. But floodwaters were receding in parts of the Balkans Friday after heavy snowfall and torrential downpours earlier in the week triggered hundreds of evacuations across several countries and killed at least two people.

Communal workers clear snow from a street in central Moscow. AFP

In Albania, one of the hardest-hit in the region, Prime Minister Edi Rama said authorities were beginning to count the cost of flooding after hundreds of homes were inundated, mainly in the south.

Warnings of icy conditions and snowfall remained in effect across most of the region, including Serbia, where parts of the west have been without power for days after a snowstorm knocked out power lines.

FREEZING WEATHER GROUNDS FLIGHTS

In northern Germany, state-owned Deutsche Bahn halted long-distance train services until further notice, citing one of the ​most severe winter ‍weather events in many years, Reuters reported.

Snow clearing vehicles remove snow at the Hamburg Airport in Hamburg, Germany. AP

At Hamburg Airport, northern Germany's busiest air terminal, about 40 flights were cancelled, while a Bundesliga soccer fixture between Hamburg's St Pauli ​and RB Leipzig scheduled ‌for Saturday was postponed.

The Dutch airline KLM said it had cancelled 80 flights to and from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on Friday. Schiphol had already cancelled hundreds of flights earlier this week because of freezing weather.

Agence France-Presse