Photo - PAP/Jacek Bednarczyk

Eleven people have died from the bitter cold in Poland as three days of heavy snow fall causes chaos on the roads and at airports.

Most of the dead were homeless. The oldest man to die was 72 years old, say police.

On Thursday, morning flights from Warsaw airport to Frankfurt, Paris, Helsinki, Milan, London Heathrow and Dublin were cancelled. Passengers for flights to and from Warsaw are experiencing lengthy delays particularly to and from Prague, Munich, Brussels, Toronto, Sharm el Sheikh, Tbilisi, Beirut, Cairo and Toronto ,says Warsaw‘s Chopin airport web site.

“Breaks of 15 to 30 minutes have to be regularly taken so snow can be cleared from the runways,” Warsaw airport spokesman Przemysław Przybylski told TVP public television.

Driving snow fell overnight in Podkarpackie, Malopolska, Silesia, Opole and central Poland.

As the thermometer slid to minus 10 below zero traffic became paralysed in Krakow with vehicles reduced to a 20 km/h crawl, reports Radio Krakow.

The Municipal Services Department in Warsaw has issued an appeal for commuters to use public transport to help free up traffic in the capital. (pg)