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9 December 2010
Last updated at 04:44 ET
Snow and ice have paralysed much of the region around the French capital Paris, stranding thousands of motorists and air passengers for the night.
Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux asked drivers to leave their vehicles at home after 11cm (4in) of snow fell on Paris, the most since 1987.
Air passengers spent the night at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport after flights were cancelled.
The traffic situation is expected to return to normal by Thursday afternoon.
Municipal halls and school sports halls around the Paris region put up stranded motorists for the night.
So heavy was the snow in the city on Wednesday, that top tourist attraction the Eiffel Tower was shut down.
The snow rapidly turned to slush, paralysing the bus network.
'Standing still or barely moving' Ashley Wheeler, a BBC News website user from Wokingham in the UK, was travelling through Paris on business.
He gave up trying to get his connecting flight out of Paris due to the weather conditions.
"I was on a flight into Charles De Gaulle," he said.
"The pilot aborted the landing at the very last moment, later reporting that 'the runway was too slippery and we were diverted to use a different runway instead'.
"I gave up trying to take my connecting flight and took the TGV [high-speed train] instead.
"I watched the chaos on the roads, as the train left Paris without any problems. There were queues of traffic standing still or barely moving."
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Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux asked drivers to leave their vehicles at home after 11cm (4in) of snow fell on Paris, the most since 1987.
Air passengers spent the night at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport after flights were cancelled.
The traffic situation is expected to return to normal by Thursday afternoon.
Municipal halls and school sports halls around the Paris region put up stranded motorists for the night.
So heavy was the snow in the city on Wednesday, that top tourist attraction the Eiffel Tower was shut down.
The snow rapidly turned to slush, paralysing the bus network.
'Standing still or barely moving' Ashley Wheeler, a BBC News website user from Wokingham in the UK, was travelling through Paris on business.
He gave up trying to get his connecting flight out of Paris due to the weather conditions.
"I was on a flight into Charles De Gaulle," he said.
"The pilot aborted the landing at the very last moment, later reporting that 'the runway was too slippery and we were diverted to use a different runway instead'.
"I gave up trying to take my connecting flight and took the TGV [high-speed train] instead.
"I watched the chaos on the roads, as the train left Paris without any problems. There were queues of traffic standing still or barely moving."
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