Snow causes ‘unprecedented’ travel chaos

As temperatures plummet and snow continues to fall in parts of the UK, travellers face misery in airports, on the roads and on the rail network across the country.

A spokesman for the AA told Channel 4 News it was dealing with an “unprecedented” number of calls and warned that driving conditions in many areas were “hell on ice.”

London’s Heathrow Airport is among the worst hit of the transport hubs, with thousands of flights cancelled and passengers stranded, and in rail services, Eurostar has been forced to close its queues to new passengers after snow hit its trains.

Heathrow Airport operator BAA warned that delays and cancellations could continue up to, and beyond, Christmas Day.

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A maximum of one third of its scheduled flights would be operating between now and 6am on Wednesday, BAA said, despite the lifting of night flight restrictions to try and clear the backlog. Only one of its runways is operating and passengers are being warned not to come to the airport unless their flight is confirmed.

In a statement, it said all of its staff were working to clear the situation and additional staff had been deployed.

“We are sorry for the disruption caused and will reflect carefully on the lessons we can learn and the steps we need to take to better prepare for these periods of poor weather,” it said.

Other UK airports are open but many flights are delayed.

Your stories - from Twitter 
@TheBrianDuggan stansted, ryanair flight to derry, due to take off at 640am, still on runway, not offered any food or drinks
@JenniBomb I'm at Paris Nord and have been queuing for 4 hours with no information
@lauradoggett friend just said they abandoned journey after facing 4++ hour wait for train and 5+ hour journey. Queues down Euston road.
@DukeJim Father-i-l beat weather. Fight from Helsinki diverted to Manc. Manc to London train took longer than Tokyo to Helsinki flight.
@vencut2 longest queue EVER 
@Tijs_ managed from BXL to LDN on Eurostar yesterday. Took 7hrs, complete chaos no info, no staff. Now BA website crashed marvellous

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Road and rail

Britain’s roads are also dangerous. A spokesman for the AA told Channel 4 News they were “hell on ice”.

“We’re getting an unprecedented number of calls from across the country,” he said. “There’s no escaping the Big Freeze. No major area is unaffected. We’ve had 3,000 breakdown calls an hour – that’s triple the normal volume.

We’re getting an unprecedented number of calls from across the country. There’s no escaping the Big Freeze. AA spokesman.

“We are urging people to avoid all unnecessary travel because of the condition of the roads in so many areas – it’s hell on ice. And if people have no choice, stick to the major roads, and avoid minor roads which will be even more icy and untreated.”

The rail network has also been hit, with huge queues for the Eurostar service from London’s St Pancras station. The queue has now been closed and the operator has asked passengers without tickets not to travel to the station for the rest of the day.

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But for the moment trains across the UK’s national network are coping better than other forms of transport, although a Network Rail spokesman told Channel 4 News it was a “fluid situation”.

“All our main rail routes are open,” he said.

“There are amended services in place. The airports are shut, the roads are shut, but the railways are still open. Yes, there will be last minute cancellations and delays, but you can still get from A to B.”

More chaos to come

More chaos is expected as the Met Office has issued an emergency weather warning for the south west, which will see heavy snowfall.

London, the south east, Wales and northern Scotland are also forecast for more snow for Monday afternoon and evening.

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Temperatures will also remain extremely low across the country, the Met Office said.

London Mayor Boris Johnson has called for a “Herculean effort” by BAA and its contractors to get planes back in the air.

Channel 4 News has looked into the numbers of snowploughs at major airports – which include ploughs, sweepers and blowers, and de-icing equipment.

Charles de Gaulle airport has 74, Heathrow has 69, Orly in Paris has 41 and Gatwick has 45, although it plans to double this number over the next few years.

We are focused on getting the airport back up and running. Once that has happened we will of course review all of our processes. BAA spokeswoman.

A BAA spokeswoman said it was “too early” to consider whether its investment in snow and ice fighting equipment would increase as a result of recent events.

She said Heathrow currently had £6m worth of equipment and had invested £500,000 more this year with more investment planned. But she said the priority now was getting the airport back on track.

“We are focused on getting the airport back up and running. Once that has happened we will of course review all of our processes.”

Europe-wide problems
Other parts of Europe are also being hit by the Big Freeze. 

Over 1,000 flights at Germany’s main airports were cancelled, and many more delayed, as 40cm snow fell in the country. However, Lufthansa said it was confident it would operate a full service by Wednesday.

The country's rail network also suffered – with operator Deutsche Bahn urging passengers to stay home. And in the most populous state, North-Rhine Westphalia, trucks were banned from motorways to ease congestion. 

Belgium has also closed its motorways to truck traffic after there was a peak of 600km of traffic jams in rush hour in the Wallonia region. 

Air France said there were serious delays at the two main airports in Paris, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, after more snow. 

In Poland, traffic jams hit Warsaw, but its main airport remained open.