Trains, planes and ferries across Europe disrupted by winter storm
A winter storm sweeping west across northern Europe has left travel chaos in its wake - leading to the temporary closure of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, the suspension of all rail services in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia and widespread delays and cancellations elsewhere.
Europe's third busiest airport closed completely for around two hours, due to winds gusting to 70mph or more near the Dutch capital. Many UK services were cancelled, including flights to and from Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Inverness, London City, Manchester, Newcastle and Southampton.
KLM was worst affected, but passengers on British Airways and easyJet also suffered cancellations and severe delays.
An estimated 5,000 BA passengers were booked on around 30 flights cancelled to and from Heathrow. Air-traffic controllers ordered a reduction in the arrivals rate, which also affected Aer Lingus, Lufthansa and SAS.
Airline passengers booked to and from Italy on Friday face disruption because of strikes by airport workers. British Airways says passengers booked on most Italian routes can switch without penalty to Saturday or Sunday.
Rail commuters in the UK have faced delays and cancellations in both morning and evening rush hours, mainly due to lines blocked by fallen trees and damage to overhead wires.
The main line from London Waterloo to Portsmouth was closed between Haslemere and Guildford for most of the day.
In East Anglia, passengers were advised not to travel between Colchester and Norwich all morning, after high winds damaged the overhead electric wires.
The lines from Lowestoft to both Norwich and Ipswich were closed because of fallen trees, with passengers warned that the replacement bus from Ipswich to Lowestoft could take up to three hours, more than double the normal rail journey.
Ferries are still sailing across the Irish Sea and the English Channel, but between Dover and Calais there are delays of up to two hours. P&O Ferries, the biggest operator on the route, is telling travellers: “Please check in as booked, we’ll accommodate you on the first available sailing.”
The firm’s late-evening Dublin to Liverpool sailing is expected to be 90 minutes late.
