Heavy snowfall on Monday threw travel into disarray across France and the Netherlands, causing hundreds of flights to be axed in their capitals and bringing trains and buses across Amsterdam and Paris to a halt.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of the busiest in Europe, scrapped about 700 flights as authorities closed the airport to incoming planes until noon GMT. Flights had to be re-routed to other airports during this period.
“There are long lines here,” a frustrated passenger told Dutch outlet AD at Schiphol. “No one really knows what’s going to happen next.”
Meanwhile, in Paris, the country’s civil aviation agency asked airlines to cut down takeoffs and landings by 15 percent, wiping out about 30 flights at Charles de Gaulle and 40 at Paris-Orly until the evening, Aeroports de Paris reported.
Roads Choked With Traffic Across Paris
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot advised passengers to confirm their flight status before heading to the airport and encouraged using public transport where possible.
He also announced speed limits, dropping them to 80 km (50 miles) per hour on roads in the wider Paris region. State-owned RATP, which handles Paris’s public transport, canceled dozens of bus lines, though underground and suburban trains continued to run as usual.
At the peak of the chaos, traffic jams in the Ile-de-France region surrounding Paris stretched to nearly 1,000 km, dwarfing the usual 300 km peak, according to the regional prefecture website.
Train Services Freeze Around Amsterdam
In Amsterdam, no trains were running, according to Dutch railway company NS, and public transport in many areas took a major hit. NS said it would introduce a “winter scheme” from Tuesday, putting fewer trains into service.
International travelers faced trouble too. Eurostar announced that trains that were supposed to go to the Netherlands would only run as far as Brussels, with all Monday departures from the Netherlands cancelled.
The wave of snow and ice also sparked delays and accidents on the roads—even as officials told residents to stay home if possible.
With winter weather set to continue, further delays and travel havoc are expected in the coming days.
