European transport commissioner Siim Kallas has said travel disruption caused by severe wintery conditions across the continent is 'unacceptable'.

In a statement, Kallas highlighted the problems encountered by the air travel industry over the past few days and labelled airports as a "weak link". Kallas said: "Airports must "get serious" about planning for this kind of severe weather conditions. We have seen in recent years that snow is Western Europe is not such an exceptional circumstance."

Flights from UK airports have encountered severe disruption in recent days, with Heathrow Airport operating a reduced schedule until 23 December. It follows air travel disruption caused earlier this year by the volcanic ash cloud, which cost the UK economy an estimated £466m according to a study produced by Oxford Economics on behalf of VisitBritain.