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Much of Europe is bracing for another day of heavy snow and sub-zero
temperatures as a cold snap sweeps the continent, causing travel chaos.
More than 80 people have died across Europe, including at least 42 in Poland
and another 27 in Ukraine.
Another 13 people died in car accidents in Austria, Finland and Germany, where
temperatures fell to -33C (-27F).
Air, rail and road transport has been severely disrupted across northern Europe
and more snow is expected.
Many roads in the south of the UK were gridlocked late on Thursday, with
numerous reports of crashes on motorways and of people abandoning their cars.
Major roads elsewhere in Europe have been blocked after some regions had
snowfall of up to 50cm (20in).
Homeless deaths
Eurostar said it would run a "restricted" service on Tuesday, after a three-day
shutdown stranded some 75,000 people.
EUROTUNNEL ADVICE
to travel
on 08443 35 35 35 or amend your booking
Eurotunnel as they will not be able to purchase a ticket
information line 08444 63 00 00 for the latest travel information
Only passengers originally due to travel Saturday or Sunday would be eligible,
and the remaining backlog would be cleared over the next few days, the company
said.
The crisis prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to call the head of
national rail carrier SNCF, the majority stakeholder in Eurostar, and the
transport ministry has ordered an investigation into the shutdown.
Meanwhile Eurotunnel - which carries vehicles under the Channel between England
and France - said its terminal at Folkestone was at "saturation point" and
closed its shuttle car service to new arrivals.
In Poland, police appealed for people to help if they came across homeless or
drunk people lying outside, as temperatures dropped towards -20C in some areas.
Most of the 42 people who froze to death in the country over the weekend were
homeless, police said.
Cold-related deaths were also reported in France, where two homeless people
died.
Treacherous travel conditions also caused havoc for rail services.
Fifty people were injured when a train hit a buffer in the Croatian city of
Zagreb, while 36 were injured when a passenger train derailed in Paris.
Airports closed
Domestic rail services across the UK have been severely delayed, with buses
replacing trains in many areas.
On Monday evening, British Airways cancelled all its domestic and European
flights from the main London airport, Heathrow.
EasyJet announced cancellations of flights from London-area airports Luton,
Gatwick, Stansted and Milan Malpensa in Italy.
Luton airport said some flights were operating early on Tuesday but subject to
delays and cancellations.
Other airports in the country were closed completely.
The AA, one of the UK's largest motoring and vehicle recovery organisations,
said it had attended more than 20,000 breakdowns by 2030 GMT.
Normally it would expect to deal with about 10,000 vehicles for the whole of a
Monday in December.
In France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, airport operators struggled to
clear runways amid thick snowfall, with major disruption to flight patterns.
The two main airports at Paris, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, were operating with
some cancellations and delays on Monday after two days of extensive
disruptions.
Germany's third largest airport - in Dusseldorf - was also closed because of
Sunday's heavy snow and severe delays and cancellations were reported at
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.
Moscow said it was deploying 9,000 snow ploughs to clear the city's streets.