Subfreezing temperatures and exceptional snowfall caused travel woes around Europe on Wednesday, and in Rome's zoo it was so cold the chimpanzees got cookies for extra calories to keep them warm.
Milan's Malpensa and Linate airports briefly closed, then struggled to overcome a morning of delays and cancellations when the facilities reopened in the early afternoon as the city, Italy's financial capital, dug out from a foot (30 centimeters) of snow. The airport authority said flight crews and other workers had been unable to reach the airports. Snow that blanketed much of northwestern Italy caused train delays of up to two hours as the Italian railway had to slow track speeds. Schools closed in many cities.
A rare snowfall in France's normally sunny Cote d'Azur sent the national railway into crisis mode, halting trains in Provence as well as the Alps. Authorities stopped all buses in the port city of Marseille and closed surrounding highways, urging drivers to stay home. Several minor car accidents caused long traffic jams.
The operator of France's electricity grid and a unit of Electricite de France SA, called on customers in southern and western France to limit power consumption during peak evening hours amid expected record demand. In Rome, keepers at the capital's zoo fed primates a special breakfast of warm barley porridge, croissants and cookies to make sure they had enough calories to keep up their body temperatures, the zoo said in a statement.
Agencies
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