Winter chaos erupted in Germany, France, Britain, Austria, Russia and the Czech Republic after heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures hit the continent on Wednesday night and Thursday.

In Germany three people died in traffic accidents and dozens were injured as roads became covered with ice. Police counted 100 accidents in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and in Bavaria 500 people got stuck in their cars overnight after snow and overturned cars and trucks blocked major highways.

Near the northern German city of Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein, one girl died and another was seriously injured when the ice broke on the flooded field they were playing on. Both were resuscitated, but the older sister, aged 7, later died in the hospital. The other remains in grave condition, according to the German news agency DPA.

Elsewhere in Germany, the snowfall caused serious interruptions of air and rail traffic. Around 600 passengers were forced to spend the night at Munich International Airport following the cancellation of 350 flights, while 1,000 were stranded at Stuttgart Airport where 70 flights were delayed or cancelled. The airport in the eastern German city of Dresden was also temporarily closed during the night.

Elsewhere in Europe, snowfall disrupted commuter train services in London. In France, more than 85,000 households experienced power outages and 5,000 vehicles were stranded on a snow-covered motorway in eastern France.

In Austria, a blizzard deposited more than a meter (three feet) of snow within hours, blocking roads and stranding hundreds of vehicles as well as causing power outages in 12,000 homes.