Heavy snow disrupts flights in the UK and Germany
By Catherine Nicholls, CNN
London (CNN) — Heavy snowfall brought disruption to parts of Europe on Sunday, hitting air travel in the United Kingdom and Germany.
A number of airports across the UK closed their runways Sunday because of heavy snow and ice. Vast swathes of the country were under snow and ice warnings on Sunday, including most of Northern Ireland, the majority of Scotland, and a large part of central and northern England, according to the UK’s Met Office. Almost all of Wales is under a yellow rain warning.
Manchester Airport, the country’s third largest airport by passenger size according to the Civil Aviation Authority, said on Sunday morning that it had temporarily closed its runways due to heavy snow. Staff members on the ground were working to clear the snow from the runway, it said in a post on social media, before the runway reopened around 9:45 a.m.
Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport also temporarily closed its runway on Sunday morning due to snow, before reopening it at 10:15 a.m. Newcastle International Airport said that “heavy and continuous snowfall” was causing disruption to flight schedules.
Birmingham Airport closed for several hours around midnight so that staff could clear the snow, but reopened later on Sunday “as a result of (resilient) teams working throughout the night,” it said on X.
And while Bristol Airport in west England closed its doors on Saturday because of “challenging weather conditions,” it reopened later in the evening. The airport warned that the closure may still affect departing flights on Sunday.
Train routes in England, Scotland and Wales have also been affected by the poor weather, the country’s National Rail said Sunday morning.
“Ice and snow can mean speed restrictions and line closures are implemented to ensure trains are able to run safely on the railway,” it said in a service disruption announcement.
National Highways, the government company that operates major roads in England, put out a countrywide severe weather alert for snow across England on Saturday and Sunday.
“Road users are advised to take extra care if travelling over the weekend,” it said.
Meanwhile in Germany, snow and black ice, as well as poor visibility forced the cancellation of dozens of flights at Frankfurt airport, Germany’s largest. A total of 120 out of some 1,090 flights at the airport were cancelled, Associated Press reported.
At Munich airport only one runway was open.
Following the snowfall overnight, Germany’s meteorological office warned freezing rain would continue on Sunday, and advised people to avoid unnecessary travel.
This story has been updated.
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