Weather grounds flights as Christmas approaches

Airports in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark reported cancellations or delays to flights and drivers were also left stranded on roadsides.

London's Gatwick airport closed its runway — despite the efforts of 150 staff using 47 snow plows, while British Airways suspended all flights from Heathrow.

"Heathrow is fully operational but we are expecting more snow and planning for the worst," the airport said in a statement. "BA passengers must stay at home as all BA flights are cancelled. At this time there are no significant delays at other terminals."

At the same time, hundreds of motorists were left stranded on the major M6 route in north-western England following a deluge, prompting police patrols to offer food and water to drivers.

In Italy, the Autostrada of the Sun — the country's main north-south highway — was jammed with hundreds of vehicles as drivers slept in their seats. Though snow had mainly cleared or melted early Saturday, the highway was still closed in one direction, with traffic backed up for nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers).

Paris was sprinkled with a light coat of snow overnight. More snow was predicted Saturday, leading civil aviation authorities to cancel 15 per cent of flights at Charles de Gaulle airport between 4 pm and 11 pm local time.

Many flights were also cancelled in north-eastern France, where snow already blanketed the ground, and services were also cancelled at the airports in the cities of Nantes and Rennes.

Germany saw some 200 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, a spokesman for airport operator Fraport said. He said that was largely to do with disruption to schedules caused by problems elsewhere in Europe, while all runways at Frankfurt itself were clear.