Snowstorm halts flights at Canada's second busiest airport in Vancouver

Heavy snowfall and low visibility from a strong winter storm blanketing Pacific Canada forced the country's second busiest airport in Vancouver to halt all flights on Tuesday morning, with disruptions expected to continue ahead of the Christmas weekend. The Vancouver International Airport said the storm has had "an unprecedented impact on flights" and caused mass cancellations overnight. "Travel continues to be significantly impacted this morning and we anticipate cancellations and delays to continue through the day and the week ahead," the airport said. A low pressure system from the Pacific Ocean combined with very cold Arctic air over British Columbia dragged temperatures down and brought up to 25 cm of snow to parts of the western province overnight, a meteorologist with Environment Canada said. Crews were clearing the airfield and aircraft of snow and ice to get planes and people moving again, the Vancouver airport said.<br/>