London, December 21
Snow and freezing temperatures caused transport chaos across Europe, with the Eurostar rail service suspended for the third day on Monday and flights grounded at snowbound airports across the continent. Six Eurostar trains carrying more than 2,500 passengers were stuck for up to 16 hours overnight on Friday, five in an undersea tunnel linking Britain and France, due to technical faults caused by the wintery weather.

"We will not start services again until we're sure we can get (the trains) through safely," Richard Brown, chief executive of Eurostar, told Britain's BBC television. Almost all international train travel was halted to and from the Netherlands, where the meteorological service issued a storm warning. Trains were delayed in Poland because of frozen points and damaged rails.

Europe's airports and airlines also were fighting a losing battle to get passengers away for the Christmas holidays as the snow continued to fall.

In Germany, a week of freezing temperatures and this winter's biggest snowfall led to hundreds of road accidents, with the country's third busiest airport -- Duesseldorf International -- forced to close on Sunday.

More than 220 villages and towns in Bulgaria were left without electricity, and toppled trees cut power in several mountainous suburbs in the capital Sofia.

Four Serie A soccer matches were postponed in Italy. Temperatures in Moscow rose to about minus 15C on Sunday after the mercury dipped to below minus 26C. — Reuters