‘Beast from the east’ paralyses Europe
EUROPE: Two people were found dead in Romania as snow and subzero temperatures across much of Europe saw flights cancelled, road and rail transport disrupted and schools closed.
A Siberian weather system forecasters have called the ‘‘beast from the east’’ has brought the coldest temperatures for years to many regions. The freeze is expected to continue for much of the week.
In southern Romania, an
83-year-old woman from Adancata was found collapsed in the snow and died on the way to hospital. A
65-year-old man was found dead on Tuesday in the eastern county of Suceava.
Parts of a motorway linking the capital Bucharest to Constanta and dozens of other roads were closed. More than 80 trains and 15 flights were cancelled, Romanian police said, and Romania’s Black Sea ports were closed.
Record snowfall of 182cm paralysed the northern Croatian town of Delnice, and rescue services took several hours to evacuate residents in the nearby village of Mrzle Vodice. Temperatures hit a low of -20 degrees Celsius in Zavizan on the Velebit mountain.
Schools were closed in Bucharest and 10 Romanian counties as well as across western and central Croatia.
The roofs of dozens of houses collapsed under the weight of snow in the Unsko-Sanski canton in north western Bosnia.
A rare snowstorm in Rome on Tuesday prompted Italian authorities to call in the army to help clear the streets.
As the storm moved south yesterday, Naples saw the most snow since 1956. It blanketed the beach and covered fishing boats in small city ports such as Santa Lucia and Mergellina. With a snow-covered Mt Vesuvius providing the backdrop, the snow paralysed traffic and train services. Schools were closed in Naples and much of southern Italy.
Heavy snowfall has caused major travel disruption across the UK and Ireland, leading to road closures as well as flights and trains being cancelled. Up to 10cm of snow fell in many areas overnight as Britain’s Met Office warned that ‘‘snow showers or longer periods of snow are expected’’.
The Met Office issued weather warnings for northern and northeastern areas, adding that snow could cut off some isolated communities and disrupt power supplies.
Dozens of stranded motorists had to be pulled from snow drifts yesterday, the Automobile Association said.
Similar conditions affected transport in much of Ireland, where national forecaster Met Eireann said daytime temperatures were as low as -5C yesterday. –