Mar 3, 2018
Large parts of Europe have endured another night of freezing conditions as a Siberian weather system continues to bring chaos.
Blizzards and heavy snowfall have closed roads, rail services and schools and forced the cancellations of hundreds of flights.
The unusually cold spell is being felt as far south as the Mediterranean.
The number of weather-related deaths rose to as many as 55 with 21 victims in Poland, most of them rough sleepers.
It triggered a warning from the World Health Organization that the poor, the homeless and migrants would be hardest hit by the big freeze.
“Those most at risk of cold-related illness include elderly people, children, and people who have chronic diseases or physical or mental limitations,” it said as a statement.
The weather system has been given various nicknames – in the UK it is “the Beast from the East” while the Dutch call it the “Siberian bear” and Swedes the “snow cannon”.
Snow has even appeared on the normally balmy beaches of the French Riviera.
