LONDON (AFP) – Thousands of Eurostar passengers anxious to get away for Christmas battled for train places out of London Wednesday as heavy rains and freezing conditions sparked yet more travel chaos across Europe.

At least three people died in road accidents in Britain and northern Italy overnight after heavy snowfall, while frozen airports sparked further flight delays and a Ryanair jet slid off the runway in Scotland.

Two homeless people also died in Denmark, where temperatures plunged to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit).

Floodwaters, meanwhile, drenched most of Venice, as a combination of wind, rain and the lagoon city's periodic tidal phenomenon saw water levels rise by 143 centimeters (56 inches), a record for the year, officials said.

In London, thousands of people left stranded by a three-day Eurostar service cancellation formed long queues at Saint Pancras International station in the hope of finally getting to the continent.

Tempers frayed amid confusion over who would get priority on the reduced number of trains that began running Tuesday.

"It's a nightmare," said Olivia Roman, a 28-year-old civil servant who began queuing at 6 a.m. to get back to Paris.

Emmanuel Orejas, 41, a Belgian businessman who had been waiting for two days with his family, also expressed frustration that he was not given priority over passengers who had not been delayed.

"We have been left without knowing anything for several days. And now they are opening the doors to all passengers," he told AFP.

All Eurostar's trains for Wednesday filled up by lunchtime. A spokesman for the operator said late Wednesday it would run a "near normal service" on Thursday. Passengers were urged to turn up an hour early.

"This will enable Eurostar to allocate seating on the trains. This will also minimize queuing for our travelers," Eurostar said, adding that it was confident it could clear the backlog in time for Christmas.

The situation in Paris was less fraught, with seats available for everybody wishing to travel, a Eurostar spokeswoman there said, adding that about 26,000 places would be available over the day.

Most European airports were back to normal Wednesday, a day after hundreds of flights were scrapped across western Europe, although budget airline easyJet announced dozens more cancellations at British airports due to snow.

Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair confirmed that one of its flights from Dublin carrying six crew and up to 189 passengers skidded off the runway while taxiing at Glasgow Prestwick airport. It slid onto a grass verge, but nobody was hurt.