Trains, planes and automobiles come to a halt as blizzards blanket Europe

Air, road and rail traffic across much of Europe suffered major disruptions yesterday as heavy snow and freezing weather gripped the continent.

The problems at airports were particularly severe, with flights scrapped at Europe's busiest three hubs.

Air passengers faced long delays and disruptions at other airports in Germany, Britain and France, following widespread cancellations on Sunday.

The Hong Kong Airport Authority said 11 flights from London's Heathrow, Charles De Gaulle in Paris and Germany's Frankfurt airport were delayed.

More than one in 10 flights were scrapped at London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers, while 40 per cent were scrapped in Paris and more than a quarter were wiped out at Frankfurt.

Heathrow decided to cut its flight schedule by 10 per cent, or 130 flights, in expectation of poor visibility later in the day, but more than 180 services in total were cancelled as the day wore on.

"The additional cancellations are because a number of airports elsewhere in Europe are experiencing problems so that has a knock-on effect for us," a Heathrow spokesman said. "The number could rise as the day goes on."