Snowstorms blanket Nordic countries (Roundup)

Feb 22, 2007, 15:51 GMT

Copenhagen/Stockholm - Heavy snowfall overnight Thursday in combination with strong winds created chaotic traffic conditions and disrupted plane and train services in large tracts of Denmark as well as southern Sweden and southern Norway.

Danish home guard units were deployed and had to use all-terrain vehicles to aid stranded motorists stuck in the snow drifts. Some snow-ploughs were even stranded on the ring-roads around Copenhagen.

Motorists who planned to brave conditions were advised to equip themselves with a fully-charged mobile telephone and bring along a thermos flask with a hot drink, warm clothes, boots and blanket.

With more snow forecast for late Thursday, conditions were not expected to improve until Friday.

Scandinavian Airlines said at least 145 flights were cancelled Thursday from Copenhagen's Kastrup airport, and passengers were advised to be prepared for delays.

Danish authorities advised people to stay at home and scores of schools were closed.

Similar warnings were issued for south-western Sweden by police and the Swedish Road Administration.

Some 200 traffic accidents were registered overnight in southern Sweden but there were no fatalities.

Local train services were also affected but some services resumed later Thursday.

Several planned operations at the university hospitals in the southern cities of Malmo and Lund were also postponed since many staff members were unable to get to work, local media reported.

Several snow-plough operators and emergency services staff interviewed on local radio expressed surprise and frustration over stranded motorists that ignored warnings to stay at home. Stranded vehicles prevented the snow-clearing operation.

In southern Norway police early Thursday banned all traffic on the E18 motorway between the towns of Kristianstad and Grimstad to allow snow-ploughs access to clear the drifts.

Several hundred motorists were stranded overnight and were forced to spend 10 to 12 hours in their vehicles, police told Norwegian media.

The Red Cross and civil defence helped distribute food and fuel to the stranded motorists.