Getting about, by any means
Icy blast from Siberia disrupts daily life across continent
A man skis during a heavy snowfall in Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Rome woke to its first snowfall in six years as chilling winds from Siberia swept across Europe, bringing freezing temperatures that have claimed at least seven lives, disrupted travel and closed schools.
PARIS: A wintry blast of freezing temperatures has swept across Europe, with a biting wind from Siberia claiming four lives and endangering the continent’s homeless – with the worst yet to come.
The “Beast from the East”, as the phenomenon has been dubbed by the British media, is expected to bring chilling winds from Russia over the next week that will make it feel even colder than thermometers indicate.
The cold snap has already been linked to several deaths, as well as postponing an Italian football match and causing traffic chaos.
In France, where temperatures were forecast to drop to -10°C and feel as low as minus -18°C over the coming days, fears ran high for people living on the streets.
A homeless man in the city of Valence in the country’s southeast was found dead on Sunday, while another man was found dead in his cabin in suburban Paris on Friday.
France has opened up extra emergency shelters for the homeless and in Calais in northern France, about 200 migrants were spared the cold on Saturday night.
Britain’s weather service the Met Office forecast that northern England would have 10cm of snow over the next three days, amid temperatures that could feel as cold as minus -15°C.
It also warned of widespread travel disruption, saying: “Snow showers, already affecting eastern parts of England, are expected to become more persistent and more widespread through Monday (yesterday) afternoon and evening.”
Russia itself was not spared, with its meteorological service warning of “abnormally cold” temperatures until tomorrow and temperatures in the Moscow region expected to fall to -24°C on Sunday night, and
-35°C in the centre of the country.
Two people died of the cold in Poland on Friday, bringing the winter’s toll to 46 since November, said the centre for national security.
Frigid temperatures are also forecast throughout Germany, with a low of -22°C in some Alpine valleys in southern Bavaria yesterday.
Heavy snow in the north Italian city of Turin caused a Serie A football game between Juventus and Atalanta to be postponed on Sunday.
Schools were closed yesterday due to the snow in Rome, with -6°C forecast on Sunday night.
Authorities advised drivers to
avoid trips in mountainous regions due to snow and ice.
In Austria, temperatures are expected to drop below -20°C on Sunday night and feel even colder.
“It will feel like -30°C,” Stefan Kiesenhofer of the Austrian meteorological service ZAMG told the Oesterreich newspaper.
A cold snap like this “comes every seven to 10 years,” he said.
Hungary is also on alert, while heavy snow closed some schools in Croatia on Saturday.
Spain’s weather agency warned of “significant snowfall” on the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands.
But a brave few did take advantage of the Siberian chill, with some adventurous Dutch ice skaters taking to the country’s canals and lakes.
Dutch authorities have strongly discouraged skating on natural bodies of water, but said conditions may be more favourable after a few chilly days in the north of the country for those keen to emulate their Winter Olympians.
The freezing temperature also did not prevent a few hundred swimmers from jumping into the Meuse river, which was 3°C, while it was -2°C outside, in the Huy region of Belgium on Sunday morning. — AFP