Weather plays havoc with travel schedules

THOUSANDS of Eurostar passengers anxious to get away for Christmas battled for train places out of London yesterday as heavy rains and freezing conditions sparked yet more travel chaos across Europe.

At least three people died in road accidents in Britain and northern Italy overnight after heavy snowfall, while frozen airports sparked further flight delays and a Ryanair jet that departed Dublin slid off the runway in Scotland.

Meanwhile, floodwaters drenched most of Venice as a combination of wind, rain and the lagoon city’s periodic tidal phenomenon saw water levels rise by 143cm (56 inches), a record for the year.

In London, thousands of people left stranded by a three-day Eurostar service cancellation formed long queues at Saint Pancras International station from early in the morning in the hope of finally getting to the continent.

Tempers frayed amid confusion over who would get priority on the reduced number of trains that began running again on Tuesday.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Olivia Roman, a 28-year-old civil servant who began queuing at 6am to get back to Paris after a holiday with friends in London.

Emmanuel Orejas, 41, a Belgian businessman who had been waiting there for two days with his family, also expressed frustration he was not given priority over passengers who had not been delayed.

“We have been left without knowing anything for several days. And now they are opening the doors to all passengers,” he told AFP.

The situation in Paris was less fraught, with seats available for everybody wishing to travel, a Eurostar spokeswoman there said, adding that about 26,000 places would be available over the day.

Most European airports were back to normal yesterday, a day after hundreds of flights were scrapped across western Europe, although budget airline easyJet announced dozens more cancellations at British airports due to snow.

Ryanair confirmed that one of its flights from Dublin carrying six crew and up to 189 passengers skidded off the runway while taxiing at Glasgow Prestwick airport. It slid onto a grass verge, but nobody was hurt.

Delays continued at Milan Malpensa airport in northern Italy after heavy snow, while bad weather was blamed for a traffic pile-up in the north-west of the country late on Tuesday in which one person died and about 30 were injured.

Two women were also killed in Britain late on Tuesday when the bus they were travelling in flipped over on an icy road in Cornwall, south-west England, police said. A further 47 passengers were injured in the crash.

Meanwhile heavy rains closed motorways in southern Spain and Portugal, where power lines were also cut by heavy winds overnight.

Snowfall also forced school closures in northern Spain.