Global warming kills 15 in Europe....

It now turns deadly....

Snowstorms and subfreezing temperatures have battered Europe, killing 15 people in Poland alone overnight and wreaking havoc on air, train and car travellers from the Nordics to Italy on the last weekend before Christmas.

France's civil aviation authority ordered the cancellation of 40 per cent of flights out of Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports Sunday through the mid-afternoon.

In Britain, officials at Manchester Airport – Britain's busiest outside the London area – said its only runway was being closed for emergency snow clearance and de-icing work.

Belgium's three biggest airports, Brussels, Charleroi and Liege, were completely shut, while travellers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport faced delays and cancellations.

There was trouble on the railways too, with trains from Belgium to Italy delayed by icy, frozen tracks.

Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel weren't running Sunday as officials tried to pinpoint the problem that led four trains to come to a halt in the tunnel linking England and France, leaving passengers stranded for hours Saturday.

Officials have speculated that the quick transition from the icy cold of northern France to the relative warmth of the tunnel might have caused condensation that interfered with the trains' electrical systems.

The Eurostar shutdown has stranded more than 50,000 passengers in France and Britain over the past two days.

So far the cold snap has been deadliest in Poland, where 15 people froze to death between Saturday and Sunday as temperatures fell as low as minus 20 Celsius overnight in some places.