Good Morning. Welcome to our daily briefing for Thursday 28 February 2013.
* Dangerous Weather Warnings in Spain.
For breaking news please see our Twitter feed @DriveEurope.
SPA FRANCORCHAMPS: It should have been the trip of a life time… an all expenses paid trip to the Belgian Grand Prix as VIP guests of world champion team Red Bull. But instead of indelible memories, it ended in an Advertising Standards Authority judgement.
The competition winners, two brothers, missed the small print which said they were responsible for their own transfers between airports, hotel and circuit. They didn’t miss the bit which said their hotel would have a spa though.
Lugging suitcases for the two day trip, the brothers were forced to leave the race before the chequered flag in order to make their flight home from Brussels (having flown into Cologne).
Leaving aside the principle of never complaining because you don’t get treated like a VIP – even if advertised – or that they flew to a m-o-t-o-r r-a-c-e in Belgium (Spa is 200 miles from Calais), you do wonder how they’d get on at The British Grand Prix, even on a good day.
The ASA held up the brothers complaint and dealt Red Bull a hefty slap on the wrist. Read the judgement here http://bit.ly/15Q18Jj
Photo, Sneau Rouge ‘It could have been worse’. © Twitter/ Jenson Button 9.2.13
WEATHER
Dangerous Weather, Spain
Castellón & Teruel regions in east/ coastal Spain, ice and snow, click here for latest.
Potentially dangerous weather – snow/ ice, high winds, rain, storms – in many other parts of south and east Spain.
Journalists at the F1 test in Barcelona – north of Castellón/ Teruel – report heavy overnight rain, and rain this morning.
For the latest click here. For the weather-where-you-are click here.
Winter sports – for the latest BBC forecast click here.
Electric racing car exposed. Quimera Responsible Racing’s all-electric AEGT sits in the pits at the company’s own Circuit de Terramar near Barcelona yesterday. Photo © Twitter/ @QuimeraRR
CURRENCY
Figures from end of play Wednesday 27 February. Indicative ‘travel money’ rates from BBC. Guide only.
£1 buys €1.1280 – €1 is 88.7p – €5 is £4.43.
For other currencies click here.
Stockholm. Yesterday. © Twitter/ @thelocalsweden
CROSSING THE CHANNEL
As of 07:30 GMT, most services running well. For the latest BBC Ferry Travel News click here.
* Passengers on TransEuropa Ferries Ramsgate-Ostend should phone 01843 595522 for a sailing update. A technical problem has been affecting services.
* Travelling to the Channel ports? See @Burger_Ferry for the latest at Dover. See @TravelNewsSouth for the latest on the roads.
For the latest updates by operator click links below:
P&O – Condor Ferries – Brittany Ferries – Transeuropa Ferries – Eurotunnel – Stena Line
DFDS – Dover Strait – Western Channel – North Sea
TRAFFIC
For live traffic information in the following countries click the links below:
Austria – Belgium – France – Germany – Netherlands – Switzerland
The Automobile Club of Luxembourg provides a run down of planned major traffic events here (French only).
Google Maps includes live traffic information on all western European countries.
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