European travel disrupted from Finland to France by severe cold snap and storms

European travel has been disrupted and made dangerous by winds, snow, and ice in the last week. Extreme freezing temperatures in northern Finland have halted flights at Kittilä airport, stranding thousands of tourists in Lapland. Broadcaster YLE said de-icing operations could not easily take place at the airport under meteorological conditions that saw temperatures drop to -40°C. While cold is to be expected in Lapland, the temperatures are 24°C lower than seasonal averages.

With the deep chill predicted to persist, Finland is not the only European country where transport is disrupted. Flights were also cancelled, and there have been more than 300 delays at Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg airports. German railway operator Deutsche Bahn stopped all trains from running due to snow on 9 January 2026, with knock-on effects to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark. Buses were also cancelled, schools have been closed, and icy road conditions are making driving hazardous in North Rhine-Westphalia. At least three German road deaths have been attributed to the cold snap.

my flight from Kittilä (northern Lapland) was cancelled yesterday because of the temperature of -41°C, and they took us by bus to a "warmer" airport in Oulu, where the temperature is "just" -26°C.
I live here. https://t.co/oRSUYyVCK3

— 🇫🇮 ilia kukharev (@ilyakuh) January 10, 2026

Ferry services in the North Sea, too, are affected, with some islands cut off. Those “Baltic” conditions extend unsurprisingly to the Baltic region. Latvia has been under a snow alert, and non-essential travel is ill-advised in Estonia and Lithuania. Heading south, a major road axis between Germany and Czechia was blocked by lorries, and in Prague, public transport was severely disrupted.

Heading east, Poland’s Warsaw Chopin Airport, the largest national aviation hub, grappled with major delays and diverted flights due to snow and ice that could not be cleared quickly enough. But by 11 pm on Sunday, 11 January, airport authorities said normal operations had resumed.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has been battered by strong winds brought by Storm Goretti. So far in 2026, there have been at least four drownings, and two people are missing off the UK coasts, where the New Year tradition of sea swimming became treacherous due to the cold and strong waves. At least one UK fatality was caused by Storm Goretti when a tree fell on a caravan. Fallen trees also damaged power lines, causing power outages in various parts of the country, including the West Midlands and Cornwall and the southwest, where the National Grid said 13,100 properties were without electricity. Heavy rains and snow meltwater burst mains, denying water to 11,000 homes at the height of the storm. South West Water said 3,000 properties were still without water on Sunday, 11 January. In the UK, water customers are entitled to £50 for the first 12 hours without water, then £50 for every additional 12-hour period.

In France, the winds also took out power for 320,000 homes, mostly in Normandy, as authorities warned people to shelter in place.