VIENNA: Freezing rain led to travel disruptions in Central Europe on Tuesday, including flights being temporarily suspended at several airports.
Snow and freezing temperatures buffeted Europe last week, with gale-force winds and storms claiming some 15 lives, causing travel mayhem, shutting schools, and cutting power to hundreds of thousands.
A thick layer of ice on the Vienna airport runways led to a temporary shutdown, with flights gradually resuming around midday on Tuesday.
Austria´s state railway company OeBB also asked travellers to postpone non-urgent journeys, with numerous train connections facing interruptions and cancellations.
In neighbouring Slovakia, the Bratislava airport was also closed temporarily early on Tuesday due to bad weather.
Slovak police on Facebook urged people to avoid travel because of “extreme” ice and snow in the west of the country.
In the Czech Republic, ice was also hampering road and rail traffic.
Prague airport came to a virtual standstill, with firefighters having to de-ice the runways.
Around 50 people were treated for injuries because of the icy conditions, according to Prague´s emergency services, cited by the CTK agency.
In neighbouring Hungary, where severe winter conditions have affected a large part of the country since last week, Budapest airport was shut down because of “black ice and extreme icing”, the airport said.
