January 25, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 05, 1428

PARIS, Jan 24: Snowstorms swept across western and central Europe for a second day on Wednesday, killing four people, stranding thousands of air travellers and leaving hundreds of drivers trapped on freezing, log-jammed roads.

A 72-year-old woman died in the southern Spanish city of Seville when a tree branch fell on her head in high winds, while three people died in German road accidents, including a bus driver, who had a head-on collision with a lorry.

The sudden wintry snap, which follows a period of unseasonably warm weather across Europe, was nevertheless welcome relief for ski resorts in the French and Swiss Alps, many of which had previously been unable to open for lack of snow.

Up to 70 centimetres (28 inches) of snow fell in the Swiss mountains, 20 centimetres in northern Spain and 10 in southern Germany. More snow was forecast over the next three days.

More than 100,000 people were without power on Wednesday.

Power lines to 80,000 homes in remote parts of central France were severed by falling trees and the weight of snow. State electricity provider EDF could not say when they would be repaired.

Some 20,000 people in freezing north-western Russia endured their fourth day of a blackout that was not due to end until Friday. In Austria, where 12,000 households were cut off, efforts to reconnect power lines were hampered by the risk of falling trees.

Wintry weather left thousands of travellers stranded at airports in Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

It even hindered powerbrokers seeking to reach the Swiss mountain resort of Davos to make their keynote speeches on the first day of the World Economic Forum.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel embarked on the 150-km (90-mile) road journey through the mountains from Zurich airport when the helicopters ferrying political and business leaders to Davos were grounded for the entire day.

“People forget that sometimes it snows in winter,” said a spokeswoman for the airport, which cancelled 32 European flights and many long-haul ones on Wednesday morning.

In Germany, thousands of passengers were forced to spend Tuesday night at Stuttgart airport after snow closed the runways, while flights to and from Munich were also disrupted.

Prague airport, the busiest in central Europe, was shut throughout Wednesday and 230 flights were scrapped.

Another 120 flights were cancelled at Rome airport in Italy, which saw heavy snow and violent winds.

London's Heathrow airport cancelled 13 short-haul flights and there were multiple disruptions on London Underground trains. On the roads there was traffic chaos in Austria, Denmark, France and Spain.

In France, 6,000 motorists were stranded on the Paris-Lyon motorway on Tuesday night. Around 600 people were given emergency shelter in nearby towns, while others took refuge in motorway service stations.

Dozens more drivers spent a freezing night at the wheel in southern Austria, trapped in an eight-kilometre tailback caused by lorries blocking the road.

Snow closed mountain roads and motorways in Austria and northern Spain and several Austrian families were evacuated from their homes because of the threat from falling trees.

Scandinavia, which is used to snow, experienced little disruption other than a pileup on a Danish motorway that wrecked 50 cars but caused no casualties.—AFP