Snow strands travellers across north Europe

Snow and ice have stranded tens of thousands of would-be travellers across northern Europe.

The UK, France and Germany are among the worst-hit areas, with forecasters warning freezing weather may continue.Hundreds of passengers desperate to return home for Christmas camped

overnight at the world's busiest transport hub, London's Heathrow.

More than 1,000 flights were cancelled at German airports in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.

In France, Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport had three of its four runways open though most of the short-haul flights had been cancelled to enable longer-haul passengers to fly.

At the capital's smaller Orly airport although both runways were in operations, many flights had delays of more than three hours, according to French newspaper, Le Monde.

In Germany airlines encouraged their passengers to take the train while train operators - whose services are already overcrowded urged passengers to stay at home, Reuters reports.

At Germany's Frankfurt airport where many spent the night on camp-beds authorities brought in four brightly coloured clowns to try and lift the mood in the terminals.

But some of the most dramatic scenes took place in the British capital where, more than 48 hours after the last heavy snowfall in London, angry passengers with tickets turned up at Heathrow Airport only to be turned away from the already overcrowded hub.

All short-haul flights had been cancelled.