Arctic storm chaos in Europe has left thousands of passengers camping out at a frozen Dutch airport while snow-hit France has closed motorways and cancelled flights.
Intense snowfall and icy weather has left six people death across the continent as storm Goretti continues to wreak havoc.
Three people died and 15 were injured in road accidents on Tuesday in the Landes region of south-west France, while two more were killed in weather-related incidents in the Paris area.
A driver died in hospital Monday night after losing control and veering into the Marne River, while a second died after a collision with a heavy goods vehicle in the east of Paris.
A woman was killed on Monday in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo after a snow-covered tree branch fell on her head.
More than a thousand passengers spent the night at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the main international airport of the Netherlands, marking the sixth day of disruption in a row at one of Europe’s busiest hubs.
The airport set up camp beds after days of cancelling hundreds of flights due to the extreme weather.
More than 700 flights out of 1,100 scheduled were cancelled on Wednesday, and Schiphol expects this number to rise further.
In France, the A8 motorway heading south towards Aix-en-Provence and Marseille was closed this morning, while many flights from Paris’ two main airports were cancelled.
Schiphol Airport Airlines is canceling flights due to the wintry conditions that have persisted for days
Camp beds are set up for stranded travelers in a departure hall at Schiphol Airport, in Schiphol, the Netherlands
Cars dangerously skid across icy roads in France
About 40 per cent of flights at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle were expected to be scrapped and 25 per cent at Orly, to allow ground crews to clear snow from runways and de-ice planes.
Up to 15cms of snow is forecast in parts of the north, as the nation braces for the third-day of weather-induced chaos.
Electronic signage will inform drivers of limits.
Up to 932 miles of traffic has been recorded this morning in the Île-de-France region, with vehicles travelling much slower than usual to avoid collisions.
French officials banned trucks and school buses from the roads in a third of all administrative departments, most in the northern half of the country.
Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said the truck ban would bring some disruption to supply chains, in particular fresh produce.
While heavy snow hit the Paris region as daylight broke, the south of Britain is likely to be most heavily affected on Thursday and Friday.
A skier skies past the Eiffel Tower at the Champ de Mars covered in snow, following snowfalls in Paris, on January 7, 2026
Cold weather warnings covered vast parts of France and Britain on Wednesday.
French weather agency Meteo France warned of snowfalls extending across the northern half of the country on Wednesday.
Britain’s Met Office said ice warnings would remain in Scotland but would be lifted later in the morning in most of England and Wales.
Paris bus services were suspended as shops geared up for the first day of the New Year sales.
Dutch airline KLM has warned it is running out of de-icing fluid for its jets and that delays to supplies had made it difficult to replenish stock.
Its partner Air France said it was not aware of any shortages in France.
Schiphol airport said it still had ample supplies of a different type of de-icing fluid it uses to clear runways.
In Brussels, some flights were cancelled and the de-icing of runways and the wings of aircraft was causing delays.
Authorities in the Netherlands told people to plan to work from home if possible.
Motorists in the French capital were stuck in a record breaking 621 mile traffic jam on Monday
In France, heightened tier-three orange alerts for icy roads and black ice are in place in 38 departments, ranging from the German border to as far south as Corrèze and Charente.
Forecaster La Chaîne Météo advised people in departments impacted by the heavy snowfall and freezing rain to avoid driving unless it is strictly necessary.
Multiple train lines are disrupted in the centre and west, including the Bordeaux-La Rochelle line, Orléans-Nantes and Tours-Angers.
Transport minister Philippe Tabarot criticised Météo France for underestimating the severity of snowfall at the start of this week.
The forecaster responded by saying it had been warning of significant snowfall since Saturday and that the task of predicting this kind of extreme weather is ‘complex’.