London, Dec 18: A blast of harsh winter weather socked Europe on Saturday morning, causing travel chaos and sending temperatures into a deep-freeze ahead of a busy holiday travel week.
From Northern Ireland to Bulgaria, blizzard conditions left airports with heavy delays or shut them entirely on Friday, and many delays and cancellations continued into Saturday.
London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports closed all runways Saturday afternoon because of heavy snow and ice, and British Airways canceled all domestic and European flights until 5 p.m.
Police also closed several access roads surrounding the airports due to dangerous driving conditions.
The delays and cancellations extended across Europe -- to Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Geneva, Switzerland; Munich, Germany; Paris, France; and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ireland braced for an icey Saturday as the Irish Meteorological Service, Met Eireann, forecast widespread frost, ice and freezing fog for the morning, and some sleet and snow showers for later in the day. Temperatures were expected to drop down to between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius below zero (between 18 degrees and 25 degrees Fahrenheit) Saturday night.
Northern Ireland was blanketed at the end of this week with its worst snowfall in 25 years. The government issued emergency snow warnings Friday night, and more snow was expected Saturday.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland warned motorists to avoid treacherous roads and travel "only if absolutely necessary." At Frankfurt Airport Saturday morning, snow was still coming down.
"We have a light snow now. According to the weather forecast, the snowfall should stop in three hours," airport spokesman Tino Ross said. Approximately 80 flights were canceled Saturday and there were still some delays, he said.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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