People walk and ride a bicycle on a snow covered alley near the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The Eiffel Tower is using a blowtorch to melt ice collecting on its surfaces, and snow is blocking roads, trains and school buses across northern France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)Icicles on the fountains in Trafalgar Square, London, with the National Gallery in the background, as temperatures dropped below freezing, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Snow has swept across the country, with further snowfall predicted, bringing travel problems as temperatures dropped. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)A person walks past a mount of snow at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. A snowstorm and strong winds pounded parts of Germany since Sunday. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)A skier passes the Moritzburg Castle, the former hunting lodge of the Wettin family, in Moritzburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)A woman skis across the medieval Charles Bridge after a heavy snowfall in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)A person rides a bike on the snow covered banks of the river Spree through the government district in Berlin, Wednesday, Germany, Feb. 10, 2021. (Photo/Markus Schreiber)Icicles form on a window outside a house early morning in Altenberg, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)A man walks on an alley covered with snow, in Paris, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The Eiffel Tower is using a blowtorch to melt ice collecting on its surfaces, and snow is blocking roads, trains and school buses across northern France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)Youngsters slide down hill on sledges after a snowfall at the Woluwe park in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. Freezing temperatures and snow has swept across much of Europe and predicted to settle on the region over the coming days. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)A man removes snow in front of his home after a snowfall in Brussels, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. Freezing temperatures and snow has swept across much of Europe and predicted to settle on the region over the coming days. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)A young women goes down the stairs as a wave hits a wave-lashed breakwater during a windy afternoon in the southern Athens coastal suburb of Flisvos, on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. A cold and strong winter weather hit Europe with temperatures far below zero. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)The frozen Hofvijver pond is seen outside the Dutch parliament buildings in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. With freezing temperatures forecast for more than a week in the Netherlands, ice fever is sweeping the nation, offering a welcome respite from grim coronavirus news while also creating a challenge for authorities trying to uphold social distancing measures. (AP Photo/Mike Corder)Icicles formed on boats after high winds and waves swept the marina of Monnickendam, Netherlands, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. With freezing temperatures forecast for more than a week in the Netherlands, ice fever is sweeping the nation, offering a welcome respite from grim coronavirus news while also creating a challenge for authorities trying to uphold social distancing measures. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)A man feeds scraps to seagulls as the cold snap continues to grip much of the nation, in Whitley Bay, England, Wednesday Feb. 10, 2021. Cold weather is predicted to continue over the region for some days. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)Youngsters slide downhill on boards at Leopold II park in Brussels, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Freezing temperatures and snow have swept across much of Europe and is predicted to settle on the region over the coming days. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
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People walk and ride a bicycle on a snow covered alley near the Eiffel Tower, in Paris, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. The Eiffel Tower is using a blowtorch to melt ice collecting on its surfaces, and snow is blocking roads, trains and school buses across northern France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PARIS – Workers at the Eiffel Tower used a blowtorch to melt the ice collecting on its surfaces and snow was blocking roads and halting trains and school buses Wednesday across northern France.
Amid a European cold snap, areas in Normandy and Brittany unused to such icy conditions were closing highways for lack of snow-clearing equipment. In parts of the Paris region, local authorities halted school buses and urged parents to keep their children at home.
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Snow blanketed the French capital and froze the Eiffel Tower.
“When negative temperatures return, my floors get partially covered with ice! To get rid of it, we need to use a blowtorch because ice-control salt is too corrosive for the metal,” tweeted the monument, which has been closed to the public for months because of coronavirus restrictions.
Parts of central and northern Europe as well as Britain have been gripped by a cold weather front since the weekend. Heavy snowfall tangled traffic and stranded drivers in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Some took advantage of the frosty climes. Cross-country skiers glided across the Charles Bridge in Prague, children sledded in the usually snowless parks of Belgium's capital of Brussels, and the deep winter freeze has reawakened the Dutch national obsession with skating on frozen canals.
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