Thread: Frigid Europe: Nearly 300 people freeze to death; Airports shut

Frigid Europe: Nearly 300 people freeze to death; Airports shut

260 dead; Ferry disaster averted; Rail and road traffic hit hard

By AFPPublished Sunday, February 05, 2012

The Arctic cold snap that has hit Europe for over a week had claimed nearly 300 lives by Sunday, brought air travel chaos to London and dumped snow as far south as Rome and even North Africa.

The grim winter toll rose in Ukraine, Poland, Italy and France, where two homeless people found frozen to death were the latest victims, with authorities across the continent reporting at least 297 fatalities.

London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest air hub by passenger traffic, cancelled a third of the day's flights, while much of Britain was blanketed in snow, leaving drivers stranded on roads overnight.

In Italy, which reported a seventh victim, snow-covered Rome was virtually paralysed, thousands of people were trapped on trains, and the weather emergency sparked runs on supermarkets.

"I couldn't get hold of any food at the supermarket, people are stocking up like they did with bread in 1943," Rome resident Salvatore Merlo said on Twitter. "Rome has the infrastructure of a third world country."

In worst-hit Ukraine, another nine deaths raised the toll to 131 -- most of them homeless people who perished on the streets -- since the deep freeze started nine days ago, said the emergencies ministry.

Some 1,800 people had now been hospitalised, and 75,000 people had sought warmth and food in over 3,000 shelters.

In Poland, the cold claimed eight new victims, bringing the toll to 53.

In Serbia, which has recorded nine deaths, states of emergency have been declared in 32 municipalities, mostly in the south and southwest.

Almost 70,000 people remained cut off in snowed-in villages, with police and military units providing basic necessities, said Predrag Maric, the police official in charge of Serbia's emergency services.

In Romania, six new deaths have brought the toll to 34.

In Finland, overnight temperatures plummeted to minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 32 degrees Fahrenheit), but did not deter many Helsinki voters from turning out to vote in a presidential election.

Motorists were warned of more arctic winds and slick roads and poor visibility because of powdery snow.

Similar conditions led to pile-ups on Friday near Helsinki, in which more than 200 cars were involved, and which saw about 40 people taken to hospital.

Much of Britain was blanketed in snow, and in southeast England, motorway drivers were forced to spend the night in their cars as drifts of up to 16 centimetres (6.3 inches) ground traffic to a halt.

Air traffic was hit too, and a Heathrow spokesman told AFP: "We've cancelled approximately 30 per cent of the day's flights. We're continuing to tell passengers to contact their airline before they travel."

Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham and Luton airports were brought to a standstill for part of Saturday night due to snow on the runways.

In Italy, more than 400 members of the armed forces helped clear cities after the heaviest snowfall in 27 years.

In Rome, black ice covered streets as snowed-in residents were warned of food shortages and the national rail operator faced class actions after hundreds of people were trapped in trains.

In France, the bodies of two homeless people were discovered -- a 46-year-old woman in the town of Compiegne, north of Paris, and a 56-year-old man found on a Paris building's fire escape -- bringing the toll to five.

The cold front has even brought rare snow to North Africa.

In Algeria, at least 16 people died and more than 100 have been injured since snow covered cities over the weekend, blocking hundreds of roads, and left villages in the mountain area of Kabylia isolated. Five of the deaths were reported to have been due to separate cases of carbon monoxide poisoning linked to gas heating.

Earlier Story:

Hundreds of people were rescued Saturday after a ferry caught in a snow storm hit a breakwater off Italy, as a vicious cold snap that has claimed over 260 lives across Europe tightened its grip.

Ukraine has suffered the heaviest toll with 122 deaths, including many who froze to death in the streets, as temperatures plunged to as low as minus 38.1 degrees Celsius (minus 36.5 Fahrenheit).

More than 220 dead as big freeze grips Europe

Airports were shut, flights and trains delayed, and highways gridlocked as emergency services raced to clear falling snow.

In Italy, the ferry Sharden hit a breakwater shortly after setting off from the port of Civitavecchia near Rome, causing panic among the 262 passengers who feared a repeat of a cruise ship tragedy in the area last month that killed 32.

Freeze claims more lives in Europe, -25C in Moscow

Coastguard spokesman Carnine Albano said the accident, which tore a 25-metre (80-foot) hole in the ship's side above the waterline, happened after the vessel was buffeted by a violent snow storm from the north-east.

All passengers were evacuated and no injuries reported.

The heaviest snowfall in 27 years in Rome caused the capital better known for its warm sunshine to grind to a halt, with taxis and buses unable to navigate through the icy streets without snow chains.

Parts of the Venice lagoon also froze over.

A 46-year-old woman died in Avellino, near Naples in southern Italy, after a greenhouse roof laden with snow collapsed on her and the ambulance failed to get through the blocked roads to her in time.

A homeless man in his sixties of German origin was found dead, apparently of cold, in the central town of Castiglione del Lago.

But as Europe huddled indoors for warmth, Russian gas giant Gazprom said it could not satisfy western Europe's demand for more energy.

"Gazprom at the moment cannot satisfy the additional volumes that our Western European partners are requesting," the company's deputy chairman Alexander Kruglov said at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, according to Russian news agencies.

Frigid temperatures even edged into north Africa, with the temperature forecast to drop to minus 5C (minus 20F) in Algiers on Saturday night.

In Algeria's eastern region, a 17-year-old man was assumed killed after he was swept away by a swollen river. Many domestic and international flights were cancelled.

In Poland, the death toll rose to 45 as temperatures reached minus 27C (minus 32F) in the north-east. In Romania, four more victims were found, bringing the number of fatalities in the country to 28.

The cold snap has also killed people in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia, France, Austria and Greece.

Snow fell in Bosnia for the second straight day, paralysing traffic, with one patient dying as the ambulance was unable to reach his village in the south of the country.

Two people were found dead in Croatia on Saturday, in the southern region near the Adriatic coast and the main port Split where the snow has surprised inhabitants, Hina news agency reported.

In Serbia, a man was found dead in the southern town Lebane as the authorities in 28 municipalities, mostly in remote mountainous regions in the south and southwest, declared a state of emergency.

Maric said some "60,000 people have been, or 25,000 households, have been cut off by snow" with emergency services engaged in clearing off the areas and bringing the necessities to the population.

In Bosnia, one man was found dead in southwestern town Mostar and the authorities and public transportation was disrupted in the capital Sarajevo, which saw its airport closed.

Even Croatian and Serbian Presidents Ivo Josipovic and Boris Tadic were forced to postpone their departure from a regional meeting, as they were blocked in the ski resort of Jahorina, near the Bosnian capital.

In tiny Montenegro, where one person was found frozen to death in a village, many hamlets in the mountainous north were cut off. Rescuers managed to evacuate 120 people, among them 31 school children from neighbouring Albania on a field trip, Interior Minister Ivan Brajovic said.

Both airports -- in the capital Podgorica and the Adriatic port of Tivat -- were also closed to traffic, while the authorities ordered a railway service to be halted fearing mountainous avalanches.

The Netherlands' Amsterdam-Schiphol airport meanwhile reported "dozens of delays and cancellations," and London's Heathrow, the world's busiest in terms of international passenger traffic, cancelled 30 percent of Sunday's flights as it braced for heavy snow and freezing fog.

In France, snow fell from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south, though the west of the country and the capital Paris were spared.

Five hikers who were lost in the Jura mountains between France and Switzerland were rescued Friday, with two suffering from severe hypothermia. Temperatures in the region were as low as minus 15C (minus 26F)

Frigid Europe: Nearly 300 people freeze to death; Airports shut - Emirates 24/7

Rare Snows in North Africa

By Evan Duffey, Meteorologist
Feb 5, 2012; 12:32 PM ET

Snow made a rare appearance in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria.

Cold air associated with a storm system diving into northern Africa provided for some decent accumulations of snow in the north African country.

According to Accuweather Meteorologist Eric Wanenchak, most reports say the last time Algiers saw this kind of accumulation was at least seven years ago in 2005.

He said Algiers must fight a combination of limiting factors in order to see snowfall. First, the city is near the Mediterranean Sea, which is still quite warm, currently in the low 50s.

Second, they are at sea level, and lower elevations generally are warmer and mean more atmosphere that snow has to fall through.

Lastly, they are rather far south. By comparison, they are at a similar latitude as Virginia Beach.

While snow in Algiers is rare, snow to the south in the Atlas Mountains is not as rare. This event should bring more accumulating snow to these mountains to close out the weekend.

However, for Algiers, not too much more in the way of snow can be expected as temperatures have warmed well above freezing.

Rare Snows in North Africa