Snow falls in Madrid; halts travel, closes airport

by amyjudd | January 9, 2009 at 10:27 am

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Madrid came to a standstill today due to one of the heaviest snowfalls in over ten years, which closed the airport, caused chaos on the roads, and drove people back into their homes.

The travelers wishing to get out of Spain have already been hampered by weeks of delays and cancellations due to Iberia pilots going on strike - the extreme weather only made the prospect of getting on a plane even more difficult.

Madrid's regional government convened a meeting of its crisis committee and raised its warning level to orange -- the second highest -- as snow fell through the day and settled on the capital's streets for the first time since February 2005.

A transport department spokesman said all Madrid's major highways were jammed as a result of the bad weather.

The National Meteorology Institute said 10 cm (4 inches) was expected to fall in Madrid on Friday and further snow would fall over much of the country during the weekend.