PARIS / AMSTERDAM / SARAJEVO—A brutal and relentless cold snap has transformed much of Europe into a perilous landscape of ice and iron, claiming at least six lives and plunging the continent’s aviation and rail networks into a state of “absolute chaos.”
From the sun-starved streets of the French capital to the snow-choked peaks of the Balkans, the first full week of 2026 has been defined by a whiteout that authorities are calling the most severe winter disruption in a generation. As of Wednesday morning, hundreds of flights remain grounded, and thousands of travelers find themselves stranded in terminal halls that have become makeshift shelters.
A Deadly Toll on the Roads
The human cost of the storm has been heaviest in France, where treacherous “black ice” has turned high-speed motorways into skating rinks.
- The French Tragedy: Five people have been killed in weather-related accidents across France since Monday. In the southwestern Les Landes region, authorities confirmed three deaths in separate highway collisions.
- The Paris Marne Incident: In a harrowing scene east of Paris, a taxi driver lost his life after his vehicle skidded off a frozen bridge and plunged into the Marne River. His passenger was pulled from the icy waters but remains in critical condition with severe hypothermia.
- Sarajevo’s Loss: In the Bosnian capital, a woman was killed when a massive tree branch, unable to bear the weight of 40 centimeters of wet snow, snapped and fell on her as she walked through the city.
Aviation in Agony: Schiphol and Paris Paralyzed
For air travelers, the situation has been described as “insane.” Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest transit hubs, has become the epicenter of the crisis.
- Groundings at Schiphol: More than 600 flights were canceled between Tuesday and Wednesday alone. The Dutch carrier KLM warned that it is nearing a “critical shortage” of de-icing fluid after using 85,000 liters a day to keep its fleet operational.
- The Paris Scramble: In France, civil aviation authorities ordered the preemptive cancellation of 40% of flights at Charles de Gaulle and 25% at Orly to allow ground crews to fight a losing battle against the accumulating drifts.
- Stranded Thousands: Social media has been flooded with images of passengers sleeping on airport floors in Amsterdam and London, with some travelers reported being told the next available rebooking could be up to three days away.
A Frozen Infrastructure
Beyond the airports, the infrastructure of Western Europe is buckling under the sub-zero temperatures.
- The Rail Ghost Town: An IT outage compounded by frozen track points brought the entire Dutch rail network to a standstill on Tuesday. While limited service resumed Wednesday morning, high-speed Eurostar links between Paris, London, and Amsterdam continue to face massive delays.
- Balkan Blackouts: In Serbia and Romania, heavy snowfall has downed power lines, leaving dozens of mountain villages without electricity or heating.
- The British Deep Freeze: Britain recorded its coldest night of the winter so far at -12.5°C in eastern England, triggering “amber” cold weather alerts and the closure of hundreds of schools across Scotland and northern England.
The ‘Second Wave’ Warning
The respite may be brief. Meteorological services in France and Germany are bracing for a second storm system expected to hit on Thursday and Friday, potentially adding another 10 centimeters of snow to already buried regions.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot has issued a stark warning to residents of the Île-de-France region: “Do not travel unless it is an absolute emergency. The roads are not just difficult; they are lethal.”