VARIOUS: Travel disruptions caused by heavy snow in the UK, France and Germany

Heavy snowfall in Western Europe caused major travel disruptions on Wednesday (January 24). Thousands of British commuters faced delays on the way to work after snow disrupted rail services across the UK. Snowfall overnight left a covering of up to two centimetres in some areas. In neighbouring France, dozens of trucks were left stranded overnight on Tuesday (January 23) and into Wednesday with little hope of clearing soon enough for the truck drivers who had spent the night struggling to stay warm in their truck cabins. At least 200 people were forced to brave cold temperatures as they were unable to move through the line of traffic, mainly trucks, which had been stranded in the snowy road. Fire-fighters arrived on the scene with food, water, blankets and other supplies to help the stranded. "I've got a heater in the truck but I didn't sleep well. I've been here since 10PM (2100 GMT) last night. It's been quite a while," said Philippe, one of the stranded truck drivers. Early Wednesday another rescue team arrived on the scene and helped evacuate all of the motorists who had been stranded. The trucks will continue to line the highway until road crews are able to clear most of the snow from the road. Storms over eastern and northern France have brought cold fronts and have been shifting eastward across Europe. Other isolated areas across the north-facing Alps could receive up to 18 inches of snow. In Munich, roads had to be cleared and cars pushed free of the snow as temperatures in Germany fell below zero degrees celsius and snow finally started to fall. For one of the first times this winter, Germans were able to make use of their winter coats, though some still battled through the snow on their bicycles. The German Weather Service expects the cold weather to stay and fresh snow to fall towards the weekend.

ITN Source | January 25, 2007

Tags:. .covering. .caused. .left. .didnt. .across