December 21, 2010

White Christmas with problems





Central Europe is paralyzed by large amounts of snow.

In Belgium they haven’t seen snowing like this since 1945 (in the Ardennes Offensive, “Battle of the Bulge”, the temperature in January -45 gave large problems)

Many are spending their third night in a row at Brussels airport.
The airport has run out of de-icing fluid as the trucks can’t get through due to bad road conditions.

Heathrow, Schiphol and Frankfurt are affected too, where many of the long distance flights take off.

Weather like this is always bad, but my thoughts go to them that are longing to see their near and dear ones for Christmas and can't get home.
I hope the snowing subsides, so the airports can resume their normal activity again.



11 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Europe has been getting hit hard by this weather. I too hope that the flights can resume soon and people can get home to see their families.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family. Love your pictures, everything looks so beautiful and peaceful.

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

I know this is a ridiculous thing to say, but life would have been much easier if Jesus were born in the summertime. Stay safe and happy holidays.

Wolfie said...

I have been watching it on the news. It is wild. There was a line up in France, I believe, for trains - the wait was 5 hours just to get into the station! Very sad for those that were looking forward to being with their families.

Have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and best wishes for a fantastic 2011!

lytha said...

omgosh i can't stand this!! my husband's flight leaves duesseldorf on thursday and he has to stop at london before flying to seattle, if that is even possible at this point.

worse, i know he's more stressed about it than i am. he says we're getting 20 cm of snow per day (in west germany) since i left for america.

please God let this pass.

Shanster said...

We saw pix in our paper this morning of people stuck in Heathrow airport. I hope everyone finds a safe and welcoming spot to be in for the holiday...

The Odyssey Farm said...

I hope none of your family are caught up in the delays. Best wishes to you and yours for a happy and peaceful 2011!

HorseOfCourse said...

Lytha, I really do hope that your husband will get onboard as planned.
The say that the snow is moving northeast, and that should ease the situation over London, and perhaps also Düsseldorf. I cross my fingers for you.

At the moment there are 6.5 hrs delayances at Heathrow, and they only operate with one runway instead of two.

The airports have been chritizised from EU for lack of preparations for snow, and IMO rightfully so.
I belive it is to some extent more a discussion about money than about weather, and we might expect more extreme weather in the future.

HorseOfCourse said...

Oh, and of course -
a Merry Christmas to you all!

Anne i Hannover said...

I was stuck at Gatwick for 5 hours on Sunday, but thankfully I made it home - there were A LOT of people more or less living in the departure hall, some had waited since the day before...

Merry Christmas!;)

HorseOfCourse said...

Merry Christmas, Anne! I am in Sweden now, but will be back on Sunday evening.

The Equestrian Vagabond said...

I LOVE IT! of course, I didn't get snowed in anywhere, and feel sorry for those who did. I hope you're where you want to be with your family and a nice warm fire and a good cup of coffee! Happy Holidays!
- The Equestrian Vagabond