Europe has been brought to a near standstill by heavy snow and ice — and the human cost is already stark.
Six people have died as winter weather tightened its grip across the continent.
Five were killed in France in separate road accidents linked to black ice.
In Sarajevo, a woman died after a snow-laden tree collapsed following more than 40cm of snowfall.
A brutal reminder: when winter hits hard, it hits fast.
So what does this mean for travelers? Chaos.
Hundreds of flights have been scrapped, leaving thousands stranded at major hubs like Paris and Amsterdam.
France’s Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot urged people to stay off the roads and work from home, warning that more snow and ice are on the way.
“Safety has to come first,” officials stressed as dozens of regions were placed on high alert.
Transport Chaos Escalates
At Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, nearly half of all flights were cancelled to allow crews to clear runways.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport fared no better, axing hundreds of flights as airlines struggled with de-icing shortages.
“The situation is chaotic, unacceptable,” said stranded passenger Javier Sepulveda, still waiting in line hours after arriving at the airport.
Trains weren’t spared either, with outages and delays rippling through the Netherlands and beyond.
As snowploughs work overtime and departure boards flash red, one question lingers.
In an age of modern transport, are we ever really ready for nature’s worst days?
