STRIKES in protest at austerity measures delayed flights in Paris, grounded traffic in Belgium and promised headaches for travellers around Europe.

Freezing weather hit Europe’s airports and high speed train services and saw major events postponed, including music shows and sporting events.

Heavy snow caused chaos across Europe today, shutting down airport runways, forcing fast trains to a crawl and leaving cars skidding through icy, slushy streets on a weekend where many people were trying to head home for the holidays.

HUNDREDS of thousands of strikers marched in cities across France yesterday for the second time this month, protesting against President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to hike the retirement age to 62.

Thick drifts of volcanic ash blanketed parts of rural Iceland as a vast, invisible plume of grit drifted over Europe, emptying the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands in search of hotel rooms, train tickets or rental cars.

VOLCANIC ash sifted down on parts of northern Europe yesterday and 17,000 thousand planes stayed on the tarmac to avoid the hazardous cloud as travel chaos engulfed major European cities.

Irish airspace, with the exception of a block off the south coast, will continue to operate without restrictions, according to the Irish Aviation Authority.

Search teams today located one black box from the wreckage around two trains that crashed into each other near Brussels, killing 18 people and injuring over 170.

One train driver survived the head-on crash that killed at least 18 people outside of Brussels and will be questioned as soon as his serious injuries permit it, railway officials said today as the search resumed for more victims.

At least 18 people are now thought to have died when two commuter trains collided head-on after one ran a stop light at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb.

Two commuter trains collided head-on after one ran a stop light at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb, killing at least 12 people and injuring 55, a Belgian official said.

Two commuter trains collided head-on at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb today, killing as many as 25 people, Belgian rail officials said.

A 24-hour nationwide strike by Belgian rail workers left commuters struggling to get to work today, while international Eurostar services between London and Brussels were cancelled.

French railway workers were planning to kick off a general strike late today, the latest salvo of protest by trade unions and student groups angry over the government’s new labour law.

French students and unions are vowing to press ahead with a one-day strike and more protests tomorrow unless the government withdraws a new youth labour law that has sparked violent demonstrations and shut down universities.

A strike caused disruptions to French rail traffic for a second day today, although the protest appeared to be winding down as unions said they were satisfied with concessions from the national rail operator.