GENEVA — Heavy snow and subzero temperatures swept across Europe, killing at least eight homeless people in Poland, closing major airports in Britain and Switzerland and causing hundreds of highway accidents.
Gatwick, London’s second largest airport, and Geneva, a major hub for low-cost carrier Easyjet, were forced to shut down today as staff struggled to clear runways of snow. Edinburgh airport in Scotland, and Chambery and Grenoble in southeastern France also were closed.
Eurocontrol, the central air control agency, reported severe flight delays in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Prague.
In Poland, police said eight men died last night after a bitter cold front roared in, with temperatures falling to around -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit). Police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski said the men, from different parts of the country, had been drinking. The eastern Polish city of Bialystok hit -26 Celsius (-15 Fahrenheit) last night.
Winter weather caused some 2,000 accidents on German roads Tuesday, officials said.
Police in northern Austria said a 69-year-old retiree froze to death overnight when he slipped on a snow-covered bridge on his way home from a funeral and lost consciousness.
Officials at Gatwick, south of London, said the airport would remain closed until early Thursday, stranding about 600 flights that were expected to leave today. Extra staff were working “around the clock” to clear the runways, and passengers were advised to check with their airline or Gatwick’s website for updates.
Gatwick was under five to six inches of snow this morning and has seen continuous snowfall throughout the day, said spokeswoman Andrea Hopkins, adding that she was unable to provide a current estimate.
Geneva’s airport will be closed until at least 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) today, a spokesman said. The city has seen 10 inches (25 centimetres) of fresh snow in the past 24 hours.
Zurich, Switzerland’s biggest airport, reported delays and cancelations on the day many VIPs, including former President Bill Clinton and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, were traveling to FIFA’s headquarters to push their countries’ bids to host the 2018 and 2022 football World Cups.
Airport spokeswoman Sonja Zoechling said officials anticipate heavy snowfall there this afternoon but expected to keep flights going. Still, the presence of so many private jets in Zurich meant the airport had to turn down requests Wednesday for diverted landings.
Some 60 flights were canceled at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s largest, since planes were not able to fly in yesterday , but there were no weather delays today.
Swiss weather agency Meteosuisse forecast more snow throughout the day as a low-pressure front centered over western Europe moves slowly eastward.
“We’ve got unusually cold air over large parts of the eastern Atlantic, and where that meets warm air coming for example from the Mediterranean you have a lot of snow,” said meteorologist Heinz Maurer.
He predicted that snowfall would ease in central Europe by Thursday, but nights will remain extremely cold.
