Snow causes record tailbacks in Belgium, delays budget talks

BRUSSELS/PARIS, March 12 (Reuters) - An overnight snowstorm in Belgium and northern France caused record Belgian traffic jams and delayed the start of federal budget talks in Brussels, and left French drivers sleeping in their cars.

The Belgian breakdown assistance association Touring said the total length of tailbacks on highways and major roads at their rush-hour peak hit 1,670 km (1,038 miles), beating by far the previous record of 1,285 km set on Feb. 3 last year.

"There was too much snow at the wrong moment. If it snows a lot at night, the salt doesn't work as there aren't enough cars to spread it around," said Touring spokesman Danny Smagghe.

On a normal Tuesday, total morning rush-hour tailbacks average 250-270 km.

Brussels' two main railway stations were closed.

The high-speed Eurostar service connecting London with the French and Belgian capitals and the Thalys connecting Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Cologne in Germany were both suspended.

France's civil aviation authority cancelled 25 percent of flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and 20 percent at Orly.

Brussels airport reported extensive delays and some diversions of planes to Ostend or Amsterdam.

Around 80,000 homes in northeastern France were without electricity, according to the power network operator ERDF.

Social media were full of messages about the unusual mid-March snow fall of up to 20 cm (8 inches) and the cold. It was set to be the first mid-March day since 1925 that the daytime temperature in Belgium had not risen above freezing.

Foreign Minister Didier Reynders tweeted that budget talks would be delayed due to the weather.

Flemish OpenVLD liberals leader Alexander De Croo added: "The budget won't be simple, but just getting into Brussels to get started is a task of a different order altogether."

In northern France, hundreds of drivers spent the night in their cars. Another 600 people spent the night in public buildings opened up for them by authorities in the coastal region of Normandy.

High winds and snow drifts also caused traffic chaos in southern parts of the Netherlands. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, Pierre Savary in Lille, France, Marc Parrad in Rouen, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Kevin Liffey)