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2009-12-22 08:38:12
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
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.