Car rental customers left stranded in New York

The Christmas period has left many people stranded in the wake of the bad weather much of the Northern Hemisphere has seen. Roads across the UK came to a standstill as they became impassable because of thick snow and icy conditions. The Eurostar Cross Channel service did not run for three days before Christmas and limited services were only available for the few days leading up to Christmas Eve.

Across much of North America it was the same scene as many airports struggled to clear the snow from the runways and to make them safe from freezing conditions as the snow began to melt causing black ice. New Yorkers who were hoping to hire a car and getaway were also left stranded in the wake of the weather as cars that were hired could not make it back to their original destinations and instead had to be left at cities out of the area in a string of one-way rentals.

The National Weather Service recorded around 10 inches of snow on the 19th and 20th December leaving up to 1,600 flights cancelled. Many of these passengers went for car hire to solve their problem of getting to their destination, but there was simply not enough cars to accommodate all of the travellers. Car rental firms in the area are now trying desperately to get some of these vehicles back into New York for the bookings that were already made. They have also been liaising with other forms of transport like bus companies to try and help out New Year travellers.