Stranded Irish to return from France

Up to 200 Irish holidaymakers stranded for more than 24 hours at an airport in the French Alps because of heavy snow were expected to finally fly out last night.

A number of roads across France have been closed after the country declared an orange weather alert in 19 regional departments.

Around 15,000 vehicles were trapped in the Savoie region when roads leading to two of its main ski resorts became impassable.

Many were forced to sleep overnight in their cars, prompting officials to open emergency shelters.

The severe weather also caused the death of a 27-year-old man, whose car slid into a ravine in southeastern France.

The Irish group — who have been stuck at Chambery Airport for over 24 hours — had been travelling with Crystal Ski.

In a statement, the company said they have been working overnight with the airlines, airport and local authorities to arrange flights home yesterday evening, either out of Chambery or surrounding airports.

The company said it had secured emergency flights out of Lyon Airport to a number of UK airports. If those were not the original departure airports, buses would be available to transport passengers onwards.

Lorraine Miley from Dublin was amongst those stranded.

She told RTÉ News that it was “pure hell”. She said the group spent the night sleeping on the floor of the airport, wearing ski suits to keep warm.

“We were offered emergency accommodation but all it was was the floor of a local gym.”

She claimed passengers had only been offered water and crisps.

The French government asked drivers to “exercise the utmost caution” and avoid travel if possible.

More than three-quarters of the country was under a severe weather watch.

Forecasters warned of more snowfall and “significant re-freezing” overnight and warned of slippery roads.

Elsewhere in France, storms packing gusts of up to 160km per hour forced the temporary closure of the port of Calais on the English Channel and the suspension of car ferries to and from Britain.

A few kilometres outside the industrial northern city, thousands of illegal migrants living in makeshift camps struggled through a second night of freezing temperatures.

“The conditions outside are hellish in the ‘jungles’,” said David Lacour, the director of Solid’R, which is running a care centre to help migrants survive the cold.

“The storm blew away a lot of tents — some now have nothing.”

Up to 2,300 migrants are thought to be in Calais and surrounding areas, where they live in flimsy tents waiting for a change to complete their final journey to Britain.

Heavy snow also caused disruption to roads in Germany, creating a 25km traffic jam on the A8 motorway near Stuttgart.

In Britain, officials issued warnings of ice across the country and heavy snow in some areas.

Hundreds of homes were without power in parts of England. The heaviest snow was in Leek, western central England, where 11 centimetres (4.3 inches) of snow fell.