Thousands of flights and train services have been cancelled across Europe because of snow and ice, leaving many travellers stranded¹.

欧洲数千航班和列车因冰雪天气被迫取消，许多旅客被滞留。

Few flights were leaving London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, and one third of flights were cancelled in major hubs like Paris and Frankfurt.

Roads in a number of countries have been described as treacherous²（奸诈的，叛逆的） .

The UK, France and Germany were among the worst-hit areas, with forecasters warning of freezing weather all week.

Restrictions³ on night flying at Heathrow were relaxed to help clear a huge backlog⁴ of flights, but leading carrier British Airways⁵ warned passengers they might have to abandon their Christmas holiday plans.

More than 1,000 flights were cancelled at German airports.

Earlier reports suggested all departures from Brussels airport were to be cancelled due to problems transporting de-icing liquid to the airport. But late on Monday officials said the airport would remain open as a new supplier had been found in Germany.

Huge backlog

There were severe delays on the Eurostar rail service between the UK and France and Belgium, and Thalys trains between France and Belgium were also affected⁶ as speed restrictions hit rail travel in England and northern France.

Lines of delayed passengers snaked for several hundred metres outside London's St Pancras station, and Eurostar - which has been turning away even those with bookings - urged travellers to cancel or postpone⁷ their trips if possible.

Further snowfalls in the Paris region caused serious problems for drivers, and heavy goods vehicles were barred from major routes.

Paris bus operator RATP cancelled a number of its services.

German rail services were also affected. Heavy snow in Berlin caused problems for commuter⁸ trains and on the roads. Dangerous conditions were also reported on roads near Cologne.

Dutch authorities imposed a 50km/h (30mph) speed limit on a number of motorways⁹, while icy, snowy roads also caused traffic problems across Sweden.

In Malmo, more than 100 commuter trains were cancelled because of the severe conditions.

As a sign of how bad conditions were, even in Moscow, where 9,000 snow ploughs（犁） were in action, some roads were at a virtual standstill（停顿，停止） .

In Italy, the airports at Florence and Pisa reopened after a weekend of cancellations.