Bombay Durpun - Europe faces transport chaos as cold snap toll rises

Airports in Paris and Amsterdam were the worst affected, with the Dutch authorities saying more than 1,000 travellers had been forced to spend the night at Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest hubs.

Seven people have died in weather-related accidents as the continent reels from the most bitter cold snap of the winter so far.

Hungary's interior ministry said on Wednesday that a woman had died after a car skidded on ice and crashed into another vehicle, adding to five people killed in France and one in Bosnia since the winter freeze descended on Monday.

With snowfall continuing on Wednesday, skiers and snowboarders enjoyed hurtling down the steep hills of the Montmartre district in Paris.

But the cold snap came as a bitter shock to the French capital's many homeless people.

Guinean teenager Boubacar Camara, who is sleeping in a tent on the city's outskirts, told AFP he had "no choice but to keep on going".

"You just have to stay strong, make sure you don't die, you know," said the 19-year-old. "We can't do anything about the cold -- I'm not used to this at all."

Hundreds of schools were closed for a third day across Scotland, and English authorities were warning of a snowstorm across parts of the country in the coming days.

- Black ice warning -

More than 100 flights were cancelled on Wednesday at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and 40 more at the French capital's other main hub, Orly.

Almost half of mainland France was on alert for heavy snow and black ice, and lorries were banned from the roads in some areas, forcing truckers off the road while waiting for permission to get going again.

"It's better to be here than stuck on the road," said driver Carle Bruno, who managed to get to a roadside service station in the northern port city of Le Havre to wait out the weather.

In the Netherlands, Schiphol Airport said more than 700 flights had been cancelled so far and warned that the number was likely to increase.

Brussels Airport confirmed 40 cancellations on Wednesday, and Budapest Airport in Hungary said 20 flights had been cancelled overnight.

Andras Vaszko, a meteorologist at the Hungarian national weather service HungaroMet, told AFP it was the heaviest snow in the capital for 15 years.

Forecasters said temperatures could fall to -20C in some places in Hungary, and in neighbouring Austria the mercury plummeted even further to -24C in the Alps overnight.

- 'Calm prevails' -

Britain also saw temperatures plunging, with the authorities warned some rural communities in Scotland could be "cut off" by snow.

The Eurostar rail service connecting London with continental European cities was also disrupted again on Wednesday, with passengers facing cancellations and delays.

The Balkans region has been hit by heavy snow and floods in recent days and thousands were still without power in Serbia after a snowstorm tore down power lines on Tuesday.

The Albanian port city of Durres was hit by torrential downpours on Tuesday that inundated hundreds of homes and forced around 200 people to flee, though officials said conditions were easing on Wednesday.

Trams were suspended in the western city of Gothenburg, and the authorities in the wider region warned people not to drive and stay at home if possible.

burs-jxb/sbk

V.Handa--BD