Three die in 100 vehicle motorway pile-up

Snow has continued to cover large parts of Europe, causing a massive pile-up on a motorway bridge in Sweden which left three people dead. Police estimated that 100 vehicles were involved in the crash on the E4 motorway near Helsingborg, on the southwest coast. Both directions of the highway were affected and remained closed for several hours. While flights took off from Rotterdam and other airports in the Netherlands with just slight delays, the Dutch motoring organisation ANWB reported more than 1,000 kilometres of traffic jams. Some Dutch rail routes were operating at less than half their normal service, leaving some to use human power to get about Amsterdam. Further south, Belgians were warned to expect a further blanket of snow over the next day or so. Northern Spain was not spared either. While temperatures have dropped across the country, some parts of Catalonia and Navarra were hit by particularly heavy snowfall. In total 23 regions remain on alert. The big freeze across much of central and eastern Europe is expected to remain until the end of the week.