Fresh snowfall forced Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, to close today in the latest setback to beleaguered pre-Christmas travellers.

The airport said flights were suspended a little after 0400 GMT. Officials said 139 arrivals and 136 departures were cancelled.

Frankfurt has seen hundreds of cancellations over recent days, often a result of disruption elsewhere in Europe.

The crisis at Brussels airport eased overnight as a feared shortage of de-icing liquid failed to happen. More flights than expected were able to take off after the airport managed to treat most planes departing today.

The airport had previously warned that it would run out of the liquid - which aircraft may need to land and take off in cold weather - by last night and that it wasn't expecting a new delivery until tomorrow morning.

"Most flights are expected to operate as scheduled, in spite of adverse weather conditions," the airport said, although its departure board showed more than half of flights either cancelled or delayed.

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