MADRID, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cold weather and heavy snow brought chaos to Spanish roads on Saturday and Sunday, thousands of people were forced to spend Saturday night in their cars, Spanish media and emergency services reported.
Thousands were trapped by heavy snowfalls on the key A-6 and AP-6 roads, which head northwest out of the Spanish capital of Madrid and were closed in the region of Castilla-Leon, where 240 members of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit were called into action to help clear snow and free trapped cars in the province of Segovia.
Elsewhere 1,400 people were forced to spend the night in a sports hall in the town of Alsasua, after the A-1 road was closed in the Basque region of Gipuzkoa, while the AP-68 road was blocked overnight close to the town of Haro in La Rioja.
Spain's General Director of Traffic has recommended drivers "not to drive in the most affected zones until we know how the storm will develop."
