1000km of traffic jams: City struggles as snow causes chaos in Europe

2 months ago 6

By Bart H. Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout

January 6, 2026 — 3.30pm

Amsterdam: Heavy snowfall has disrupted air, road and rail travel in France and the Netherlands, with hundreds of flights cancelled in the countries’ capitals, while trains around Amsterdam came to a standstill and bus services in Paris were suspended.

Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, cancelled about 700 flights on Monday as the airport closed to incoming traffic until 1200 GMT (11pm AEDT) due to the snow, a spokesperson said. During that time, planes were diverted to other airports.

“There are long lines here,” a traveller stranded at Schiphol told Dutch media outlet AD. “There’s not too much clarity on what is actually going to happen.”

Meanwhile, France’s civil aviation authority asked carriers to reduce take-offs and landings by 15 per cent, or roughly 30 flights, at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and 40 flights at Paris-Orly until the evening, according to Aeroports de Paris.

1000km of traffic jams in Paris

French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot urged travellers to check if their flight was operating before leaving home, and to use public transport to reach the airport.

A blast of Arctic air is spreading bitterly cold weather across much of Europe.

He also ordered speed restrictions of 80km/h on roads across the Ile-de-France region that surrounds Paris. State-owned RATP, which operates Paris’ public transportation, said it cancelled dozens of bus lines. Underground and suburban trains were operating normally.

Speed restrictions were ordered on some roads.

Traffic jams reached almost 1000km in total at one point on the roads of Ile-de-France, the website of the region’s prefecture showed, up from usual peaks of some 300km.

Amsterdam trains at a standstill

Dutch railway company NS said no trains were operating in the region around Amsterdam and public transport was severely affected in many places. NS added that it would implement a “winter scheme” on Tuesday, with fewer trains in service.

International train operator Eurostar said trains originally scheduled to travel to the Netherlands would instead run only as far as Brussels in neighbouring Belgium. Eurostar train departures from the Netherlands on Monday were cancelled.

Ice and snow also caused many delays and accidents on the roads, even as authorities advised people to stay at home whenever possible.

Further delays and disruptions are expected in the coming days due to the ongoing winter weather.

Elsewhere in Europe, a man clears a car after heavy snowfall in Dufftown, Scotland.

Reuters

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.