Europe’s homeless dying in arctic conditions

Officials in Ukraine say 38 more people have died in severe winter weather over the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of dead in the past week to 101.

Ukraine is experiencing its coldest winter for six years. Overnight temperatures dropped to 33 degrees below freezing.

The country’s Emergencies Ministry has set up around 3,000 heated tents to provide shelter for the homeless.

Some 64 of the dead were found on the streets.

Several hundred people have been treated in hospital for frostbite and hypothermia.

The severe conditions are widespread across much of Europe.

Police in Poland said 37 people have died over the past week as a result of the arctic conditions, the majority of them homeless.

Worst hit was the south-east of the country where temperatures hit – 35 degrees Celsius.

In Serbia, emergency services had to rescue residents from remote villages that had been cut off.

There has been no escape even in western and southern Europe.

The cold blast swept across Italy, disrupting transport and bringing the rare sight of snow in Rome.

In France, the electricity generator has asked households to go easy with heaters at peak evening times as demand approaches a record high.

There has been snow too on the Mediterranean coast and in Spain.

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