Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittilä airport in Finnish Lapland were canceled due to severe cold, the Associated Press reported.
The airport temperature dropped to minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday morning, Finland’s public broadcaster Yle reported, citing conditions that were making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult.
The deep freeze was expected to continue in Kittilä on Monday, with the Finnish Meteorological Institute predicting temperatures of almost minus 40 C (minus 40 F).
Finland is accustomed to frosty winter weather, but this year’s cold has been more severe, the report said, affecting wide regions of northern, central and eastern Europe.
Across parts of Europe, heavy snowfall, high winds and icy roads have made travel difficult, with disruptions extending beyond air travel.
In Germany, train passengers were still experiencing long delays and cancellations on Sunday after rail operator Deutsche Bahn shut down all service in the north of the country on Friday due to strong snowfall.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, authorities announced that all schools would remain closed and switch to online classes on Monday after forecasts of icy roads across the region.
In the Baltic countries, drivers in Estonia and Lithuania were asked to postpone all nonessential travel because of expected blizzards, while Latvia issued a snow alert for the west of the country.
The AP report said the story included a correction related to the Fahrenheit conversion.