(from ABC news)

Frustrated drivers in Zurich caused the cellular phone network to collapse. “A great number of people were stuck on the way to work and tried to phone in to the office,” Swisscom spokesman Sepp Huber said. “The system was just completely overloaded.”

Trains crossing Europe were also disrupted by snow drifts and avalanche threats. In Italy, a 21-year-old railway worker was run over by a train and killed as he was clearing snow from the track in the Valle d’Aosta region. The busy train stretch between Florence and Bologna was also closed. The well-known Simplon Express between Venice and Paris was forced to make long detours, while high-speed trains traveling between Switzerland and France were reduced to a snail’s pace.