LONDON — Europe's Christmas travel crisis eased slightly Wednesday but there were still substantial airport and train delays, particularly at London's Heathrow Airport, where crews were still struggling to remove ice.
Heathrow Airport officials said hundreds of flights would depart Wednesday, but the flight schedule was still significantly reduced as extra crews try to remove ice buildup and clear the airfield of snow. Heathrow reopened its second runway late Tuesday but travelers were still warned to check online updates before going to the airport.
Germany's Frankfurt airport said schedules were slowly returning to normal after several days of widespread delays caused by winter weather. About 70 flights were canceled Wednesday out of a daily total of about 1,300, a substantial improvement over the 550 cancelations on Tuesday.
The French government said 15 percent of the flights from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris would be canceled Wednesday because of the winter weather.
Eurostar, which offers train services between England, France and Belgium, said routes were operating a near-normal schedule. Still it urged only customers with tickets to show up at terminals, after facing raucous crowds of thousands at ticket halls earlier this week.
Extreme cold temperatures continued to plague parts of Europe.
Denmark experienced its coldest night in 29 years with -8.5 F (-22.5 C) measured in Holbaek, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Copenhagen. Still, Copenhagen's international airport expected a normal day.
Weather forecasters predicted fresh snow across England and Wales, though not in London, where temperatures warmed slightly, giving hopes that the snow and ice would soon melt.
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