Blizzards hit northern Europe

Workers clear snow in Moscow's Red Square

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PARIS, France -- As flood waters recede, heavy snow and freezing temperatures are bringing traffic chaos to many European countries.

Icy roads and blizzards have led to numerous road accidents in northern France, including two major pile-ups involving around 40 cars.

Some 15,000 motorists were stuck in traffic jams that stretched up to 160 kilometres (100 miles) out of Paris. Thousands of people spent the night in their cars, as firefighters distributed hot soup and food.

Airports were also hit, with delays of up to three hours at Paris's two international airports and several cancellations.

Meanwhile, flood alerts were mostly lifted on Sunday in the west of France, but the Seine overflowed in part of central Paris, flooding roads.

At least seven people were reported killed last week in flooding across Europe, which blocked roads and railways. Rivers also burst their banks in Austria, Belgium, Britain and Portugal.

However, on Monday, water levels were reported to be receding.

In Germany, river levels had stabilised or were receding in most parts, officials said, but about a thousand emergency workers were reinforcing flood defences protecting the central village of Leubingen. Most residents had been evacuated.

About 200 people were building barricades in the eastern town of Halle, where cellars in the town centre filled with water on Sunday.

The old town of Wertheim remained under water, with the Main expected to rise to its highest level since 1920, while the historic city of Cologne escaped flooding after the river Rhine failed to rise as high as expected.

In the Netherlands, about a dozen residents of the southern village of Tegelen were rescued by boats after flooding hit 20 homes, but waters receded in other areas along the river Meuse.

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