Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 5, 2026
3 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleHeavy snow disrupts travel in Amsterdam and Paris, causing flight cancellations, train standstills, and traffic jams. Further delays are expected.
By Bart H. Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout
AMSTERDAM, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Heavy snowfall disrupted air, road and rail travel in France and the Netherlands on Monday, as hundreds of flights were cancelled in the countries' capitals, while trains around Amsterdam came to a standstill and bus services in Paris were suspended.
Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs, cancelled about 700 flights on Monday as the airport closed to incoming traffic until 1200 GMT due to the snow, a spokesperson said. During that time, planes were diverted to other airports.
"There are long lines here," a traveller stranded at Schiphol told Dutch media outlet AD. "There's not too much clarity on what is actually going to happen."
Meanwhile, France's civil aviation authority asked carriers to reduce takeoffs and landings by 15% or roughly 30 flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and 40 flights at Paris-Orly until the evening, according to Aeroports de Paris.
1,000 KM OF TRAFFIC JAMS IN PARIS
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot urged travellers to check if their flight was operating before leaving home, and to use public transport to reach the airport.
He also ordered speed restrictions on roads across the Ile-de-France region that surounds Paris of 80 km (50 miles) per hour. State-owned RATP, which operates Paris' public transportation, said it cancelled dozens of bus lines. Underground and suburban trains were operating normally.
Traffic jams reached almost 1,000 km in total at one point on the roads of Ile-de-France, the website of the region's prefecture showed, up from usual peaks of some 300 km.
AMSTERDAM TRAINS AT A STANDSTILL
Dutch railway company NS said no trains were operating in the region around Amsterdam and public transport was severely affected in many places. NS added that it would implement a "winter scheme" on Tuesday, with fewer trains in service.
International train operator Eurostar said trains originally scheduled to travel to the Netherlands would instead only run as far as Brussels in neighboring Belgium. Eurostar train departures from the Netherlands on Monday were cancelled.
Ice and snow also caused many delays and accidents on the roads, even as authorities advised people to stay at home whenever possible.
Further delays and disruptions are expected in the coming days due to the ongoing winter weather.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Inti Landauro and Louise Rasmussen; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Alexandra Hudson)
Air travel disruption refers to interruptions in flight schedules due to various factors like weather, technical issues, or security concerns, leading to delays and cancellations.
Public transport refers to systems of transport that are available for use by the general public, including buses, trains, and subways, typically operated on a scheduled basis.
A traffic jam is a situation where a large number of vehicles are unable to move or are moving very slowly on a road, often due to congestion or accidents.
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