MADRID , Spain ( CNN ) -- A heavy snowstorm caused chaos Friday at Madrid 's Barajas Airport , where flights were suspended for hours before Europe 's fourth-busiest airport reopened in the late afternoon . A woman enjoys the snow in Madrid , where the airport suspended flights because of the weather . Planes were flying again at 4:40 p.m. ( 10:40 am ET ) . `` It 's a huge snowstorm . You do n't see this in Madrid often , '' an airport spokeswoman said . The airport has 1,205 daily inbound and outbound flights . But for the first time , the airport halted operations due to a weather problem , the spokeswoman said . The temporary shutdown began about noon ( 6 a.m . ET ) . Visibility was low , and the storm was so intense that the airport 's snow clearing and de-icing equipment could n't keep up , said the spokeswoman , who by custom is not identified . The first plane to depart when the airport reopened was a Finnair flight bound for Helsinki , a second spokeswoman said . The delays from the storm affected hundreds of travelers at the airport . Many others could not even reach the airport because of poor road conditions . Madrid is one of the highest capitals in Europe , at an elevation of 646 meters or 2,120 feet , but it does not often snow in the city itself , especially with the ferocity seen Friday . Watch snowy scenes from Madrid » . As children and even some adults gleefully tossed snowballs , city officials urged motorists to stay off the roads and use public transportation . Large traffic jams formed on the major highways leading from Madrid to Barcelona and other cities , and numerous vehicles ran off the roads and got stuck in the snow . iReport : Are you snowed in in Spain ? Send us your photos , videos . Bus service was suspended in many areas , although subways and commuter trains were operating , with delays in some cases . Weather forecasters said the snow was expected to continue through Saturday morning , although diminishing in intensity .
Airport reopens after no snow for hours Friday . It is one of the highest airports in Spain , at an elevation of 646 m . However , it rarely has heavy snow of the kind seen Friday .