In the UK, imports and exports via Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been severely curtailed.

"Carriers are diverting to provincial airports and trucking cargo, but it can be expected that the backlogs will take several days to clear."
 
IFW has been told that most flights were delayed by at least 24 hours and airports such as Frankfurt-Hahn and Brussels were running out of de-icing fluid.

The Europe-wide failure to keep flights operating in cold and snowy conditions is unacceptable and could lead to tighter regulation by the EU, the continent's top transportation official said Tuesday as exhausted, outraged passengers struggled to get home for the fourth day.

Major delays and cancellations disrupted European airports including London's Heathrow, and the Eurostar train link, leaving thousands stranded across Europe as Christmas approached. Some 72 hours after a five-inch snowfall, the icy road conditions in much of Britain also raised doubts about the delivery of Christmas gifts because many side roads were hazardous.

Many major businesses have stopped taking online orders for pre-Christmas delivery because of the poor road conditions.

Predicted snowfall at Heathrow did not materialize overnight, allowing cleanup crews to intensify their work, but more than half the flights at Europe's busiest international hub were expected to be canceled.

Transportation Commissioner Siim Kallas said new airport regulations due to be published before the summer could include new requirements on "minimal services" airports will have to be able to provide during severe weather.

He said he will meet with airport representatives in coming days "to ask for further explanations and to take a hard look at what is necessary to make sure they would be able to operate more effectively."

The terminals at Heathrow were clogged with passengers desperately looking at computer screens to see if they would be able to get to their destinations. So many people were sprawled on the floor that it was difficult to walk.

Others pointed out that the snow had stopped on Saturday and the airport was still hobbled three days later.

Eurostar, which links England to France and Belgium by train, also advised passengers to cancel their trips in the coming days and receive a full refund unless travel was absolutely necessary. Eurostar said trains were running with speed restrictions in both England and France as a precuation, because snow and ice stirred up by trains could damage the underside of the carriages.

Outside London's Eurostar terminal, the line of travelers waiting for trains snaked several hundred meters (yards) from the station, down the street and all the way to the British Library.

On the rails, Eurostar trains were still operating at reduced speed, with at least one high-speed train crawling along at 20 kilometers per hour (12 miles per hour) inside the Channel Tunnel.

Eurostar said trains were running with speed restrictions in both England and France as a precaution, because snow and ice stirred up by trains could damage the underside of the carriages.

There were problems in Germany as well. Fresh snowfall forced Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, to suspend takeoffs and landings for a few hours early Tuesday; the latest setback to beleaguered pre-Christmas travelers in Europe and beyond.

Frankfurt has seen hundreds of cancelations over recent days; often a result of disruption elsewhere in Europe, including major problems at Heathrow.

The situation in Brussels eased overnight as a feared shortage of de-icing liquid failed to occur

The heaviest snowfall in a quarter-century has snarled much of Ireland, with drivers forced to abandon their cars even on major Dublin roads.

Eamonn Hewitt, spokesman for ferry line Stena, says ships on all Britain-Ireland routes were reporting exceptionally high traffic last experienced during the volcanic ash scare in April and May. Then as now, travelers frustrated by uncertain air links are turning to sea travel where possible.

Siobhan Moore, spokeswoman for Dublin Airport, says runways are open Tuesday but flights face major disruptions because of the difficulty of getting aircraft in and out of Britain following Monday's mass cancellations. Dublin was closed for several hours Monday, while several intercontinental flights bound for Heathrow were diverted to Shannon in southwest Ireland, where passengers from the United States, Canada, Nigeria and Japan were accommodated in local hotels.