Snow makes travelers sleep at airports, Shakira cancels Germany concert

Travelers in Paris and Frankfurt slept at the airport after snow and ice caused travel chaos. Pop singer Shakira canceled a concert in Germany, while the French prime minister missed a gala at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater.

Many European commuters suffered through traffic jams on slushy streets Thursday, and Scotland even called in the army to clear the snow. Flights out of Paris and Frankfurt were still delayed after bad weather forced the temporary closing of airports a day earlier. Paris, a city of frequent rain, is unprepared for snow. Amid Wednesday's snowfall of 10 centimeters (4 inches), bus service was shut down, traffic backed up, tourists were ushered out the Eiffel Tower and Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport was forced to close for an hour and a half, The Associated Press reports.

In some places, the snowfall reached 11 cm (4.3 inches), the most since 1987. The Eiffel Tower was temporarily closed.

People packed into the underground metro system, which was crammed full of shuffling commuters on Thursday.

"We formally advise all road users against driving on the greater Paris region road network except in cases of absolute professional need," the Paris prefect's office said, Reuters informs.