Schiphol cancels at least 700 flights as snow and wind disrupt travel

Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of the largest in Europe, said on Wednesday that it had cancelled at least 700 flights because of snow and wind.

More than 1,000 people spent the night at Schiphol, the airport said, and the airport set up camp beds and offered breakfast to travellers forced to sleep there.

Snow, ice and freezing temperatures have affected parts of Europe this week. Five people were confirmed to have died on Tuesday in road collisions in France. About 100 flights were cancelled at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday morning because of snowfall and fierce cold, and a further 40 were cancelled at Orly, the French transport minister said. Public bus services in Paris and the surrounding suburbs were suspended due to icy roads, though most metro and suburban rail systems were working, transport officials said. Météo France said 38 of the country’s 96 Metropolitan departments were on alert for heavy snow and black ice, with 3cm to 7cm of snow already accumulated, and described the cold snap as of "rare intensity for the season"; authorities had warned people in the Paris region to avoid unnecessary travel and work from home if possible.

The airport said the number of cancellations was expected to rise throughout the day.

Key Topics

World, Schiphol Airport, Charles De Gaulle, Orly Airport, Meteo France, France