Northern Europe travel chaos as winter weather disrupts flights

One of Europe’s major travel hubs, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, canceled nearly 2,000 flights this week and warned travelers to brace for further disruptions on January 7 as winter weather left crews contending with days of accumulated ice and snow.

According to airport authorities and the flight-tracking website FlightAware, at least 700 flights were canceled on January 5, 500 on January 6, and 600 on January 7. Officials added in a statement that train service to and from the airport would be suspended until at least 6 p.m. that evening, The New York Times reports.

Wintry conditions were expected to persist from January 6 evening into January 7, with snow moving in from the west, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute said. “It will be slippery in many places,” the institute warned.

In neighboring Belgium, Brussels Airport cautioned that winter weather was likely to cause disruptions on January 7. “Due to de-icing of aircraft and de-icing and snow clearance of runways and taxiways during the snowfall, we expect flight delays during the entire day,” the airport said.

Across Northern Europe, cities including Brussels, Paris, and Antwerp have been coated in snow for several days, with showers expected to continue.

January 6 marked the second consecutive day that weather disrupted transit through Schiphol, while delays also affected travelers in Germany, Belgium, and other European countries.

In France, where residents were still coping with unexpectedly heavy snowfalls on January 5, authorities warned of further cold and icy conditions overnight. French media reported five fatalities in road accidents nationwide.

According to the forecast, weather models have shifted into a markedly more wintry mode as the New Year arrived, with a powerful Arctic outbreak now set to engulf nearly two-thirds of Europe. Triggering multiple winter storms from the Mediterranean into the Balkans with blizzards, deep snow, and frigid cold in its wake. Meanwhile, the Arctic air surges as far south as North Africa, bringing snow to parts of Spain and Algeria.

As Independent reports, heavy snow, ice and wintry showers are due to continue across the UK for the remainder of the week, as an Arctic mass named Storm Goretti causes temperatures to plummet below zero in parts of the UK.

The Met Office has issued yellow ice warnings for most of the UK, including Northern Ireland, for January 7, while a yellow warning for snow and ice is in place all day in northern Scotland, with residents there told to expect a further 5 to 10cm of snow.

By Vafa Guliyeva