© Ben Stansall, AFP/Getty Images
December 17: Snow falls on Westminster Bridge in London, on December 17, 2010. Bitterly cold weather was returning to Britain with a vengeance with widespread ice and snow due over the next few days, forecasters said. Up to a foot (30 centimetres) of snow could fall in some areas by Saturday, with Scotland bracing for some of the most severe weather for the second time this month.
Berlin - Heavy overnight snowfall grounded about 450 flights and caused major delays at German airports Friday, forced schools to close and left highways clogged with traffic after scores of accidents that killed at least two people and injured dozens.
Snow also hindered flights in the neighbouring Netherlands, where Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport saw 30 cancellations and major delays ahead of the busy Christmas holiday season, spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang said.
The European control agency Eurocontrol said passengers at Schiphol, one of continental Europe's busiest airports, had to expect delays of up to 4 1/2 hours.
Snow also closed Geneva airport early Thursday morning, though it was open again by midmorning, and flights were also disrupted in Zurich.
In Frankfurt, 300 flights had been cancelled by late morning, and the number is expected to rise throughout the day, airport spokesman Timo Ross said. About 8 inches (20 centimetres) of snow blanketed the state overnight, also causing the closure of schools around Frankfurt and elsewhere in Hesse.
The airport, continental Europe's second-biggest hub, had to be closed for about an hour late Thursday, and an estimated 1,000 passengers were stranded overnight, Ross said.
Munich airport, Germany's second-largest, reported 113 cancellations and major delays; Duesseldorf and Stuttgart saw more than 20 cancellations each.
Roads were clogged by snow, and in North-Rhine Westphalia state alone authorities reported traffic jams of more than 185 kilometres (115 miles) on highways, and 251 weather-related accidents that left 19 people injured.
Comment: Judging from current weather conditions in the UK and US as well as the disruption to the Gulf of Mexico loop current, Der Spiegel may still be proven correct.
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