Home » Report Types » Disasters » Europe: Heavy Snow, Cold Disrupt Travel Across Continent, Eurostar to Resume Normal Schedule Dec. 28, Venice Flooded

Europe: Heavy Snow, Cold Disrupt Travel Across Continent, Eurostar to Resume Normal Schedule Dec. 28, Venice Flooded

By Larry Habegger | Permalink |

No Comments | December 23rd, 2009 | Trackback

Severe winter weather before Christmas disrupted travel throughout Europe, causing flight delays and cancellations in the UK, Germany and Italy, and shutting down the Eurostar “Chunnel” train service between London and Paris for three days. Twenty-five-hundred passengers were stranded without food, water or air conditioning for 16 hours. The breakdown was believed to have been caused by light powdery snow in France that got sucked into the engines, then melted when the trains entered the much warmer tunnel and shorted out the electrical power systems. Modified trains were running by Dec. 22 and Eurostar expects service to return to normal by Dec. 28. In Italy, an unusually high tide that peaked at 56.6 inches above average flooded some 60 percent of Venice’s streets and piazzas Dec. 23, forcing residents and visitors to slosh through knee-deep waters or tread improvised boardwalks to navigate St. Mark’s Square and other landmarks. The tide receded during the day but more flooding was expected in the coming days. The high tide was about six inches lower than last year’s record 63 inches, which brought the worst flooding in Venice in more than 20 years.