Blizzards and freezing temperatures shut down runways, train tracks and highways across Europe, disrupting flights and leaving shivering drivers stranded on roadsides. Airports in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark reported cancelations or delays to flights Saturday. Heathrow Airport would not accept any arrivals Sunday and would allow only a handful of departures after snow and ice forced the closure of runways, but was preparing for a full reopening Monday, a statement on its website said. London's Gatwick airport reopened late Saturday afternoon after 150 employees using dozens of plows worked to clear the runway of 10 centimeters (four inches) of snow, though officials warned flights would be limited and cancelations likely. As Ireland was battered by its worst snow in decades, airports in Belfast and Dublin remained open but warned on their websites of cancellations and delays. In Italy, the Autostrada of the Sun _ the country's main north-south highway _ was jammed with hundreds of vehicles, whose chilly occupants slept in their cars, vans or trucks. Though snow had mainly cleared or melted early Saturday, the highway was still closed in one direction, with traffic backed up for nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers). The snowfall also forced high-speed trains to bypass Florence's central Santa Maria Novella station, stopping in suburban stations instead. Paris was sprinkled with a light coat of snow overnight. More snow was predicted Saturday, leading civil aviation authorities to cancel 15 percent of flights at Charles de Gaulle airport between 4 p.m. (1500 GMT, 10 a.m. EST) and 11 p.m. (2200 GMT, 5 p.m. EST). Many flights were also canceled in northeastern France, where snow already blanketed the ground, and services were also canceled at the airports in the cities of Nantes and Rennes. Significant numbers of domestic and European flights were canceled at Germany's Frankfurt airport as it dealt with the disruption. The icy weather also swept over large parts of Scandinavia, causing problems particularly in Denmark, where dozens of flights were canceled at the airport in Copenhagen. In Sweden, where media reports suggest the country is experiencing the coldest winter weather this early on in the season since the mid-1800's, several road accidents were reported, with more than 20 in the Stockholm area alone, the Associated Press reported.
