Winter makes its mark in Europe

Winter's full fury has arrived late but with a vengeance across much of Europe. A snow dump played havoc with Switzerland's famously efficient trains and gave Rome and the Mediterranean island of Mallorca a rare white blanket.

Heavy snow stranded Ukraine's new President, Viktor Yushchenko, in Poland and forced him to cancel a much-anticipated trip to Brussels, Belgium, for his first address to the European Parliament. In Austria, authorities closed key highways to truck traffic after more than 200 big rigs became stuck along with hundreds of cars, some still fitted with summer tyres.