Europe slows down as big freeze takes hold

The first snowfall in over 20 years in Italy’s capital has left the city eerily quiet. Iconic tourist attractions the Colosseum and Roman Forum have been closed.

Around forty centimetres of snowfall on the outskirts of Rome and only five per cent of children made it into school.

There have been some benefits as the streets usually busy with traffic are almost deserted.

“Rome has turned into a city for pedestrians for the first time, and isn’t overtaken by public transport and cars,” said one man.

Around 400 flights will be cancelled at Europe’s busiest airport on Sunday, as Heathrow’s chief operating officer claimed changing the schedule before snow fell would actually minimise disruption to passengers.

In Ukraine, where more than 120 people have died and nearly 1,600 have been hospitalised with hypothermia, shelters for the homeless were handing out hot meals to help with the cold snap.

The leaders of Croatia and Serbia have been snowed in, after travelling to Bosnia’s Jahorina mountains for a meeting with their Bosnian counterpart. Skiers at a resort in the mountains were also trapped by the bad weather.

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