Heavy snowfall closes Eiffel Tower, disrupts air and road traffic

[News_Editor]

Heavy snowfall closes Eiffel Tower, disrupts air and road traffic

2010-12-09 08:56:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- Heavy snowfall on Wednesday closed the Eiffel Tower to the public in the French capital, one of the most visited landmarks in the country, and disrupted air and road traffic.

The Eiffel Tower was completely closed since late morning and will not be opened this day. Operators of the landmark said that salt cannot be used to fight snow or ice at the 1,063-feet tower because it would damage the iron structure.

The severe weather caused that the Charles de Gaulle airport halted all incoming and outgoing flights. The airport is expected to remain closed while workers are trying to clear the runways of the heavy snow that began to fall around noon.

Three parks around Paris, La Courneuve, Bagnolet and Neuilly, were closed due to security reasons. The Paris bus network was severely disrupted by the heavy snowstorm as only a handful of the 350 bus routes were operating.

"Only some bus lines in the north-west, the south, and the south-west continue to function partially out of the 350 lines normally running," the public bus service RATP informed.

Roads are extremely dangerous and the traffic warning system called on all car drivers to exercise extreme caution if they must drive on the snow and icy conditions. Access to Versailles, outside Paris, is very difficult due to the snow-covered traffic jams.

Motorists were warned that all motorways in the Paris region had become impassable and truckers were order to pull off the highways and wait until conditions are favorable for transiting safely.

Paris registers eleven inches of snow, an amount that has not fallen since 1987. On Wednesday evening, French authorities canceled the orange alert that was issued earlier due to snow and ice.

However, authorities warned citizens of the flooding that began as the snow melts in various regions that have caused energy shortages too.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-09

[apollo13]

no nice piccies ?