On Monday, 11 German hikers had to be rescued by mountaineers from a cabin near Salzburg, after having been snowed in without electricity and little food since Friday. Other people have also been killed by avalanches in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, and authorities warned that continuing snowfall is increasing the risk of more avalanches.

In the northern coastal German city of Hamburg, residents were preparing for a storm flood caused by a winter gale, the German news agency DPA reported.

In the Netherlands, Amsterdam's busy Schiphol Airport saw nearly 25 percent of its flights canceled Tuesday. Dutch carrier KLM canceled 159 flights to and from European destinations. Flight cancellations were also reported in Slovakia.