Europe shivers in grip of deadly cold spell

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 11:33 AM EST, Tue January 31, 2012

London (CNN) -- Eastern Europe shivered Tuesday in the coldest conditions seen so far this winter, with below-freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall leading to deaths, frostbite and widespread travel disruption.

Ukraine and Poland are among the worst affected countries, with lows in Kiev and Warsaw of -17 and -16 degrees Celsius (1 and 3 degrees Fahrenheit) respectively, far lower than the average for this time of year.

Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry said 18 people have died of hypothermia in the cold spell. Twelve of the dead were homeless people, whose bodies were discovered on the streets, the ministry said.

Ukrainian health officials said more than 600 people had sought treatment for frostbite and hypothermia in just three days.

Thousands of people have sought refuge at government-run shelters as the temperatures have plummeted.

As of Monday morning, there were nearly 15,000 "points of warming" set up across the country, the Ukrainian interior ministry said, offering warmth and hot meals to those in need.

In Poland, the interior ministry urged people to look out for the elderly and homeless, saying temperatures were set to drop further as the week goes on, especially at night.

CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos said Romania and Bulgaria were among the first eastern European nations to be affected by cold and heavy snow.

Tuesday morning saw lows of -22 degrees Celsius (-7 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, and -21 degrees Celsius (-5 degrees Fahrenheit ) in Moscow, compared with an average for the time of year of -3 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) and -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) respectively.

Those temperatures will feel even lower thanks to the wind. For example, the current temperature in Berlin is -6 degrees Celsius (21 degrees Fahrenheit), but feels like -14 degrees Celsius (6 degrees Fahrenheit) to the exposed skin, Ramos said, and hypothermia and frostbite can occur within just a few minutes if people are not properly dressed and protected.

In Sovakia, a 63-year-old man was found dead outside his house in the northern village of Sunava on Monday, the Slovak news agency SITA reported, saying temperatures in the region had dropped to -24 degrees Celsius (-11 degrees Fahrenheit).

In Serbia, one person has died and two are missing following heavy snowfall in the territory of Uzice, according to the state-run Serbian news agency Tanjug. Travel and electricity supplies have been disrupted and a state of emergency has been declared in a number of districts.

Turkey is now bearing the brunt of the snowfall as of Tuesday, with Greece, Albania, Macedonia also seeing heavy snow and below-freezing temperatures.

The frigid air is set to move west across Europe and will stay in place through the end of the week, Ramos said, with heavy snowfall forecast for Tuscany and central Italy.

Twenty-three administrative areas in central and southern France have advisories due to snow and cold, while Paris will struggle to climb above freezing for its daytime highs for most of this week.

Temperatures in London will also hover near freezing, but while a few snowflakes dusted the city Tuesday, no significant snowfall is expected, Ramos said.

In Istanbul, a "red" weather alert was issued early Monday but later downgraded as streets were cleared of ice and snow, according to the city's Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM).

AKOM said all government and municipal offices were closed as of Monday afternoon, to help ease travel problems caused by up to 8 inches of snowfall in parts of the city.

Istanbul's Ataturk International airport re-opened to all flights later Monday, after more than 200 Turkish Airlines Flights, some to international destinations, were canceled earlier. Some planes had to land instead at airports in cities near Istanbul, a city of 13 million people.

Bad weather and heavy snow affected other parts of the country Monday, with highways in the northern, western, central and eastern parts of the country closed for at least part of the day and more than 270 local roads closed in eastern Turkey."

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