Icy grip on Europe claims 24
EUROPE yesterday remained gripped by a blast of Siberian weather which has killed at least 24 people and carpeted palm-lined Mediterranean beaches in snow.
The frigid temperatures, down to -24ºC in parts of Germany and -29ºC in Estonia overnight, have prompted warnings for the most vulnerable homeless and elderly.
Cities across the continent have been providing emergency shelter and relief to rough sleepers, who have accounted for most of the deaths since Friday.
Poland has reported at least nine deaths with four in France, including a nonagenarian who was found on Tuesday outside the gate to her retirement home.
Five have died in Lithuania, three in the Czech Republic and two in Romania, including an 83-year-old woman found on the streets covered in snow, and one homeless person in Italy.
The frigid weather was set to continue yesterday, with temperatures down to -12ºC expected in northern France and -6ºC in the usually mild south.
More snow was forecast for Spain, including Catalonia, where school transport has been cancelled. Classes have also been suspended in the Canary Islands which is being lashed by powerful winds.
While the Arctic is seeing record high temperatures, the cold snap across Europe has brought snow even to the balmy Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Capri.
In Belgium, towns including Etterbeek, Verviers and Charleroi have resorted to ordering police to detain homeless people if they refuse to go to shelters.
The Red Cross, which has set up emergency teams across Europe, urged people to keep an eye on neighbours and relatives.
The charity also issued public appeals for 10 000 blankets in France, where about 50 local officials in the Paris region have vowed to spend Tuesday night outdoors to call attention to the plight of those with nowhere to sleep.
“The point is not to stage a show, but to denounce a system that isn’t working,” said Mama Sy, a deputy mayor in the Paris suburb of Etampes.
Paris authorities counted 3 000 rough sleepers in the city’s first-ever homeless census last month, warning it was likely significantly underestimated.
In England, where heavy snow was dumped on London on Tuesday, tabloids have dubbed the snap the “Beast from the East”, while the Dutch are calling it the “Siberian bear” and Swedes the “snow cannon”.
The Met Office forecaster said rural communities could be cut off for days by snowdrifts, warning of “long interruptions to power supplies and other services such as telephone and mobile phone networks”.
Some of the iciest conditions were reported in Italy, where many schools and daycare centres were closed.
Italians’ anger was also growing over nationwide disruptions to rail services as a lack of defrosting equipment on the tracks meant workers having to clear snow and ice by hand.