TORONTO - Heavy snow that has blanketed European airport runways is causing travel headaches for Canadians looking to cross the Atlantic.
London's Heathrow Airport has stopped accepting arrivals, forcing the cancellation of several flights leaving from Toronto and Montreal.
Air Canada has issued a statement warning customers flying to London to expect delays or cancellations today and tomorrow.
The airline is also advising those travelling to Paris to expect long waits or even cancellations.
Paris' Charles de Gaulle has cut air traffic by a quarter as heavy snow has brought the French capital to a standstill during an unusually cold winter.
Air Canada says it has revised its ticketing policy for affected customers to allow them to make alternative travel plans, space permitting, without any penalty.
Travellers have the option to change their flights through the airline's online rebooking tool before they arrive at the airport.
"Air Canada is monitoring the situation closely and is working to get you on your way safely and as quickly as possible," the airline said in a statement posted on its website.
Meanwhile, British Airways is warning all travellers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking on flights that are operating.
The airline says it is "working hard" to finalize its flying schedule for the next 12 to 24 hours.
Frankfurt airport has cancelled around 40 per cent of flights, but departures from Canada appeared to be on schedule as of Sunday morning.
In London and Amsterdam airports, many passengers spent the night in makeshift dormitories.
Heathrow said no planes would land on its runways on Sunday and that only a small number of flights would likely depart.
There was chaos in the tunnels leading from the underground station to Heathrow terminals, with hundreds of travellers told by airport staff to go back and call their airlines for updates.
Rail services and road travellers also continued to face disruption as a result of the snow. Icy conditions in Britain caused three deaths on Saturday, police said. A teenage girl was killed in a sledding accident, while a mother and her 10-year-old son died in a traffic crash.
In northern France, TGV fast trains were running slower than usual, tacking about 20 minutes on to each journey. Eurostar trains to Britain and Thalys trains to Belgium and the Netherlands were also affected.
In Italy, Florence's airport remained closed Sunday morning due to the snow and ice storms that blanketed Tuscany.
At Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, more than 500 flights were cancelled Sunday out of a planned total of 1,330 departures and arrivals.
While the runways at Frankfurt itself were clear, flights were disrupted by problems elsewhere in Europe, with some passengers left waiting for their flights since Friday. Germany's Lufthansa cancelled several domestic and regional services to and from its main hub, though long-haul flights were little affected.
In Amsterdam, the airport's snow plow teams had cleared three runways, and planes were arriving and leaving. However, because of problems at other European airports some 30 flights had been cancelled by late morning.
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