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Peace in Stormy Times

  • December 25th, 2010
  • Posted by EUEditor

aircraft-snow-bbc.jpgHundreds of travellers did not make it, and spent Christmas in airport terminals in Europe, affected by the backlog of flights from a week of bitter weather.

PEACE WITH THE ELEMENTS

Main services between London and Australia had been getting back to normal by Christmas Eve, getting everybody on; though airlines reported several passengers not turning up, evidently because of delays with their connecting flights.

rabbits-christmas-party.jpgMost made it to traditional family events. Like those in the 1890s story of the rabbits’ Christmas party (picture), it warranted some journeying around.

Heavy snow and ice in the pre-Christmas days saw intermittent closures of major airports and cancellations of flights in several European cities, including Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, London and Paris.

See EUAustralia: “Airports freeze”, 22.12.10; “Weather clearing up …”, 22.12.10; “Freeze staying 3 days before …”, 21.12.10.

In Australia, wild weather of a different sort:-  a tropical cyclone crossed the coast between Innisfail and Cairns, early on Christmas morning.

Winds of 105 kilometres per hour damaged houses and toppled power poles, and a heavy downpour  – 100 millilitres during one hour – brought local flooding.

The elements look to be a little kinder for the much-anticipated Boxing Day cricket test at Melbourne against England, on Sunday; some showers have been forecast for the first two days, clearing after that.

PEACE AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

Trouble with climate did not distract attention from human problems.

Like his confreres and consoeurs in other religious denominations, at his Christmas midnight mass, Pope Benedict XVI  renewed the appeal for peace.

“Lord make your promise come finally true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end,” he said before a congregation of 10,000.

Reuters

ABC News, Sydney,“Qantas passengers arrive after blizzard delay”, 23.12.10.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/23/3100088.htm?section=justin, (25.12.10).

CNN, Atlanta, “Conditions improve at several European airports”, 25.12.10.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/12/25/europe.travel.weather/, (25.12.10).

Philip Williams, AFP, “Big freeze strands travellers across Europe”, ABC, Sydney, 25.12.10.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/25/3101578.htm?section=justin, (25.12.10).

Reuters, London, “Airport Christmas for Europe’s stranded travelers”, 25.12.10. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BN1OF20101225, (25.12.10).

Pictures   

Airport in London; Beatrix Potter, The Rabbits’ Christmas Party.