Wintry weather causes major disruption in Czech Republic, leaving about 30,000 homes without power.

Heavy snow has caused major disruption in the Czech Republic, leaving approximately 30,000 homes without power.

Up to 20cm of fresh snow was reported in some locations, forcing highways to close and disrupting flights into and out of Vaclav Havel, Prague’s international airport. A number of flights had to be diverted to other airports.

Strong winds accompanied the snow, with a gust of 145 kilometres per hour reported in Pribyslav, about 120km southeast of the capital, Prague.

The storm pulled down numerous trees, which resulted in the closure of roads and train lines.

The city of Kladno, just to the west of Prague, declared a state of emergency, according to Czech television.

The snowstorm also affected neighbouring Germany, where organisers were forced to cancel the last World Cup skiing race before the world championships.

A men’s giant slalom at Garmisch-Partenkirchen was called off amid relentless snow, a day after a downhill race had to be cancelled for the same reason.

Skiing’s governing body was looking to reschedule the events after the February 5-17 world championships, which begin on Tuesday in Are, Sweden.

The storm has now cleared away from the region and temperatures are expected to slowly rise during the coming week.