PRAGUE (AP) — Freezing rain and icy conditions caused widespread travel disruptions across central and eastern Europe on Tuesday, forcing airports in the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary to postpone flights.
Flights to and from Vienna International Airport, one of central Europe’s busiest, were temporarily halted. Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport was forced to restrict arrivals, while Slovakia’s international airport was closed for hours.
Hungary’s transport minister, János Lázár, wrote on social media that “freezing rain and extreme icing conditions” halted all departures and arrivals at Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest.
Vienna International Airport spokesperson Peter Kleemann told the Austria Press Agency that incoming flights were diverted to other airports such as Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne and Venice, while departures were delayed. Operations were resuming in late morning.
The cold snap has also caused disruptions to public transport.
After significant snowfall last week, tram services in Budapest were disrupted due to accumulating ice, the capital’s public transit authority said. Numerous national and international rail services were canceled or delayed.
Austria’s national railway operator, ÖBB, said delays were expected in the north and east, including Vienna, and urged travelers to postpone non-urgent journeys.
Czech authorities said some trains and buses were canceled, and passengers from the capital’s main station faced hourslong delays. They also said the D8 highway to Germany was closed due to an accident on the German side. Parts of eastern Germany saw icy roads.
In Romania, which has had heavy snowfall over the past week, temperatures in some areas were forecast as low as -13 degrees Celsius, forcing some schools to move classes online.
Hungary’s Meteorological Service said in a statement that significant snowfall could be expected in the east while rain and freezing rain was likely farther west.
Steam rises from a heating plant as birds fly over a frozen lake in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Birds land across a partially frozen lake in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Steam rises from a heating plant as birds stand on a partially frozen lake in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid amid freezing temperatures in an apparent snub to U.S.-led peace efforts as Moscow's invasion of its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.
Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said.
The daytime temperature in Kyiv, which has endured freezing temperatures for more than two weeks, was minus 12 degrees C (about 10 degrees F), with streets covered in ice and the rumble of generators heard throughout the capital.
Kyiv has grappled with severe power shortages for days, although Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night's strikes caused the biggest electrical outage the city has faced so far.
More than 500 residential buildings remained without central heating Tuesday. Throughout the city, bare trees were weighed down with icicles and snow was piled up next to sidewalks.
To cope, friends and relatives gathered in those apartments that have power or hot water, at least temporarily. They charge their phones, take hot showers, or share a warm drink.
Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal per day to needy residents. He also announced that workers in the city’s water, heating and road maintenance services would receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.
Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.
On Monday, the U.S. accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.
Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in winter over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”
The attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.
In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.
Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Defese Ministry said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.
Ukraine’s military said its drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant designs, manufactures and tests Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.
It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.
Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
