Snow disrupts transport across northwestern Europe

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Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty ImagesA woman walks on a snowy road in Caen, northwestern France, during a heavy snowstorm on March 12, 2013. Overnight Monday nearly 500 cars were blocked near Cherbourg, where snowdrifts piled up almost two feet as winds reached more than 60 miles an hour.Pascal Rossignol / ReutersA man shovels snow off his car in Cambrai, northern France, on March 12, 2013.Nicolas Armer / EPAA snowplow removes snow at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 12, 2013. Over 200 flights were cancelled as bad weather hampered efforts by snow sweepers to clear runways and prevented airline crews from reaching work on time.Reuters reports — An overnight snowstorm in northwestern Europe forced the closure of Frankfurt  Airport, caused record traffic jams in Belgium, and left British and French  drivers sleeping in their cars.

Take-offs and landings at Europe's third-busiest airport were halted at  around noon on Tuesday to clear snow from the runways. It was set to reopen at  around 8.30 a.m. ET.

The high-speed Eurostar train service connecting London with the French and  Belgian capitals and the Thalys line linking Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam in the  Netherlands and Cologne in Germany were both suspended. Read the full story.Charly Triballeau / AFP - Getty ImagesFirefighters rescue a driver who slid from a roadside during a heavy snowstorm in Caen, northwestern France, on March 12, 2013.Pascal Rossignol / ReutersFirefighters evacuate a man in Cambrai, northern France, on March 12, 2013 as winter weather with snow and freezing temperatures returns to the region.Ian Langsdon / EPAA pedestrian braves heavy snowfall on the snow-covered Champs de Mars near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on March 12, 2013.Follow @NBCNewsPictures  

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