The first major storm of the year has hit Europe’s Atlantic coast, and it is expected to bring more snow and ice, Reuters reports.
Flights have been cancelled, rail services have been disrupted and roads closed as Storm Goretti moves across Europe. Heavy snowfall hit Paris on the morning of the 7th of January, with the heaviest snowfall expected in southern Britain on the 8th and the 9th of January. Cold weather warnings have been issued for large parts of France and Britain.
France’s meteorological agency has warned that snowfall will continue in the north of the country throughout the 7th of January. British meteorologists have said that an ice warning remains in effect in Scotland, but will be lifted elsewhere in the country later in the day.
Bus services in Paris were suspended and unusually heavy snowfall in Western Europe caused traffic chaos. Dutch airline KLM has canceled 600 flights scheduled for the 7th of January from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, the sixth day in a row that one of Europe’s major transport hubs has been disrupted. KLM has also warned that it is running out of anti-icing fluid used in aircraft and delays in deliveries are preventing it from replenishing supplies.
Air France said there were no shortages of anti-icing fluid in France so far.
France’s Civil Aviation Agency has asked airlines to reduce the number of flights at the country’s largest airport, Charles de Gaulle, by 40% and at Orly by 25%.
Some flights have been canceled in Brussels, and delays are being experienced in other flights due to de-icing.
Dutch authorities have urged everyone who can to work from home. French authorities have banned the movement of trucks and school buses in a third of the country’s municipalities, mainly in northern France.
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