Snow cuts power to thousands of French homes

Heavy snowfall and lashing rain have cut power lines across southern France. Around 100,000 households have been affected according to the authorities. Up to 60 centimetres of snow fell on high ground in 24 hours and 12 French departments are on avalanche alert. The central Lozere and Aveyron regions are said to be worst affected with the weather hampering efforts to restore electricity.

Meanwhile, as many as 2,000 travellers were stuck on trains running along the Mediterranean coast after rainstorms brought down power lines. It is a similar story in Spain with much of the country on alert as snow continues to create traffic chaos.

On Saturday as many as 3,000 cars were left stranded on a mountain pass close to Madrid as a 20 kilometre traffic jam formed. The bad weather is expected to continue with Austria and Portugal reporting heavy snowfalls.

Copyright © 2012 euronews