London - The current cold snap holding much of Europe in its
icy grip claimed lives and caused traffic chaos across the continent
on Thursday.
A 44-year-old man was found dead in an abandoned building in the
small town of As, in the western Czech Republic, police said, as
temperatures plummeted to below minus 20 degrees Celsius.
He was the eighth victim of the weather in that country, most of whom
were homeless.
Two of the dead were an elderly couple, aged 67 and 63, who froze to
death on the 3-kilometre walk home from a party.
Ireland issued a national red alert for severe winter weather, with
similar warnings for parts of Britain amid reports that snow trapped
hundreds of drivers overnight.
The alerts came as freezing weather continued to affect road, rail
and air transport across Western Europe, with heavy snow closing
Geneva airport for a period, and flights cancelled or delayed at many
other airports.
Met Eireann, Ireland's national forecaster, said heavy snow showers
on Thursday would bring "accumulations of significant levels, with
all areas at risk."
It warned of blizzards and snowdrifts in some areas, with the worst
weather expected in eastern and southern coastal areas.
Following a meeting of the Irish government's emergency committee,
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said it was "very important that people
stay indoors from 4 pm (1600 GMT)."
"If you are out, please make sure you get home before then. Plan
ahead," Varadkar said on Twitter.
"We are facing an extraordinary weather event," he said earlier,
adding that he had "instructed all of the machinery of the state to
work together to keep people safe."
Irish Rail said all services would be suspended until Saturday.
Andy Page, chief meteorologist at Britain's Met Office, said snow up
to 40 centimetres deep could fall in some areas on Thursday.
Freezing rain in south-western areas could bring large areas of ice,
"leading to severe risks affecting transport and power networks,"
Page said.
British police reported several weather-related deaths this week.
A 46-year-old man died on Thursday after the van he was driving hit a
lorry in the southern county of Hampshire, while a man in his 60s
died in hospital after he was pulled from a freezing lake in London
on Wednesday.
Britain's Met Office also issued red alerts for south-western England
and central Scotland, while lower-level alerts were in force across
most of the country as Storm Emma added to the snow and ice brought
earlier this week by a cold front dubbed the "Beast from the East."
Many roads and most schools were closed in the two countries, with
reports of hundreds of drivers stranded on roads in parts of England
and Scotland overnight.
Britain's National Rail said all train services would be cancelled
late Thursday and early Friday in areas with red alerts.
London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest air hub, said it was
working with airlines to "consolidate the flight schedule" on
Thursday, while services were suspended on the Heathrow Express
direct rail service from central London.
Gatwick, London's second airport, also remained open but said it
expected many cancellations and delays on Thursday.
Snow hit popular tourist destinations in Italy, forcing the closure
of the dome on Florence's cathedral and Giotto's bell tower. Snow was
to be seen on beaches even in the south of the country.
Snow has now hit Rome, Venice, Siena, Pisa, Florence and Naples.
In southern France, at least 1,500 stranded motorists were evacuated
from their cars overnight on motorways near Montpellier, local
authorities said.
Hundreds more were reported to have been unable to leave their
vehicles. The operator of the A9 motorway tweeted shortly after
midday that busses were being sent to evacuate them.
The Norwegian municipality Folldal in the south-eastern county of
Hedmark on Thursday recorded Europe's lowest temperature: The mercury
plunged to minus 41.8 degrees Celsius, public broadcaster NRK
reported, citing the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
In Denmark, an 84-year-old woman suffering from dementia was found
dead in a park in the city of Roskilde, west of Copenhagen.
She was last seen alive at her home late Wednesday and was reported
missing earlier Thursday.
Police said she had succumbed to a combination of cold weather, age,
dementia and lack of warm clothes, news agency Ritzau reported.
Meanwhile, a woman died and her two children were being treated for
hypothermia on Thursday after they disappeared from an asylum centre
in southern Sweden in sub-zero temperatures, Swedish police said.
The three were from Burkina Faso and had been at the asylum centre in
Savsjo since last year, police spokesman Thomas Agnevik told dpa.