While many in the PR industry have seen their workload winding down this week as the Christmas break approaches, the decidedly wintery weather has made it a particularly demanding few days for communicators at certain travel companies.

Not least Eurostar, who are facing a big 'reputation repair' challenge in the New Year after icy temperatures put their trains out of action for three days. Much of the media coverage of the cancelled trains has focused on disgruntled passengers stranded at St Pancras station in London complaining about the lack of communication on Eurostar’s part.

Typical of the quotes being run by the TV and papers this weekend was one carried in the Financial Times, with one stranded passenger complaining: "The biggest problem is a lack of communication. Yesterday we got a phone number for Eurostar from a member of staff and there was no answer".

With the faltering cross-channel service dominating the headlines in both France and the UK since Saturday, and with the French government calling for action, Eurostar’s PR efforts did seem to be ramped up yesterday, with the all important CEO statement delivered to the cameras in time for the tea time news bulletins.

Of course there was similar chaos at some UK airports, which were also negatively impacted by the snow. Though, while some stranded passengers were complaining about poor communication there as well, no one company has been saddled with the blame, with both airport owners and numerous airlines being involved. Though credit to Manchester Airport for making sure TV cameras saw that their MD was on the ground dealing directly with customer complaints.

It will be interesting to see what measures Eurostar take after the Christmas break in a bid to restore their previously good reputation following the technical faults and much reported customer complaints of poor communications.