BERLIN, Feb 16 (AFP) - A cold weather front gripped much of Europe Wednesday with heavy snowfall shutting down airports in Munich and Prague and a state of emergency being declared in parts of Bosnia and Montenegro.
Nearly 200 flights were cancelled at Munich airport in southern Germany after heavy snow blanketed the region and some nearby countries, an airport spokesman said.
At least 50 flights were delayed while others were rerouted to Nuremberg airport where snowfall was lighter, the spokesman said.
In southwest Germany, a traffic jam 30 kilometers (18 miles) long backed up Tuesday night on the main A8 highway after heavy tractor trailer trucks ran into trouble on slippery roads, Stuttgart police said.
Passengers were forced to stay put for hours as rescue workers distributed hot drinks while others worked to clear the trucks from the highway.
Snow continued to pound the south and east of Germany Wednesday.
Ruzyne airport in the Czech capital was also shut down early Wednesday, forcing some 30 scheduled flights to cancel takeoff, said airport spokeswoman Anna Kovarikova. Officials held an emergency meeting to assess the situation, but flights were not expected to resume before 1200 GMT, she said.
The snow delayed President Vaclav Klaus's departure on a five-day visit to Jordan and Saudi Arabia, but his flight finally managed to take off around 0800 GMT, a presidential spokesman said.
The storm dumped some 40 centimeters (nearly 16 inches) of powder in some parts of the Czech Republic, and disrupted road traffic across most of the country.
The main D5 highway west of Prague was blocked after several trucks collided on slippery, snow-covered roads near Rokycany, 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the capital.
In the Balkans, states of emergency were declared in four municipalities in Bosnia and Montenegro as blizzards continued to sweep the region.
Almost all roads in northern and central Montenegro were blocked, dozens of villages were left without power throughout the region and schools in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo were closed.
Snowfalls and violent winds also battered eastern Austria, disrupting traffic across the region and shutting down a 32 kilometer (19-mile) length of the A1, the country's main east-west highway, and forcing a ban on heavy trucks along some stretches.
Some 30 centimeters (12 inches) of powder fell on the Austrian capital, making driving difficult and prompting the city to mobilize some 1,200 workers and 360 snow ploughs and other vehicles to clear out city streets.
In France the national weather service on Wednesday issued an avalanche alert in the southwestern Pyrenees mountains due to heavy snowfall in the region in recent days.
Meteo-France advised drivers to check weather conditions before heading onto mountain roads and urged skiers to take the necessary precautions.
Freezing temperatures were also reported in Italy, Spain and Poland.
Authorities in Italy said a 44-year-old homeless man apparently froze to death in the northern province of Udine while schools were shut down in the central-eastern Italian region of Molise.
02/16/2005 15:57 GMT - AFP