嚴冬天氣干擾北歐的節日旅行

Airports across northern Europe canceled flights while train travelers waited for hours to board as snow and ice snarled holiday travel and shopping on Tuesday from Britain to Germany and France.

Severe weather conditions caused "significant disruption" to British Airways flights. The company on Tuesday asked customers not to travel to the airport unless their flights were confirmed as taking off.

Fresh snowfall forced officials at Germany's Frankfurt airport to suspend flights for several hours Tuesday, causing backups at the country's largest hub for air travel.

In Paris, aviation officials are trying to clear a backlog of flights. The French news agency says 3,000 people slept in terminals at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport, Sunday.

Retailers are fearing a slump in sales in what is normally one of the busiest shopping periods of the year, as shoppers found it harder to reach outlets.

Forecasters have predicted abnormally bad weather through the week, as Europe endures its snowiest, coldest weather in decades.

從英國到德國和法國，冰雪天氣星期二繼續影響人們的節日旅行和購物。歐洲北部地區的機場取消航班，與此同時坐火車旅行的人則需要等候數小時之久才能坐上車。

惡劣的天氣給英國航空公司的航班造成“嚴重的干擾”。該公司星期二要求顧客在他們的航班被確認能夠起飛前不要到機場去。

新的降雪迫使德國法蘭克福機場的官員星期二暫停了幾個小時的航班，導致德國這個最大的航空樞紐出現旅客滯留的現象。

在巴黎，航空官員試圖解決航班積壓的問題。法新社說，星期日有3千人睡在巴黎戴高樂機場的候機室。

零售商擔心，由於購物的人很難到店裏去買東西，他們在這個一般來說是一年裏最繁忙的購物期間的銷售會下降。

氣象專家預測，異常惡劣的天氣將持續整個一星期，同時歐洲大陸正在經歷幾十年來降雪量最多、氣溫最低的冬季。