Cold weather claims more victims in Europe

Much of Europe remains in the grip of freezing weather with plunging temperatures claiming more victims and causing widespread disruption.

An estimated 300 people have lost their lives and the cold weather is likely to continue into next week.

As the snow reached the UK, London’s Heathrow was forced to cancel flights but the British Airports Authority says that, unlike two years ago, the airport is open and operating.

Rome continues to shiver under its first blanket of snow in 27 years. The deaths of 13 people were blamed on the bad weather, with three men suffering heart attacks while shovelling snow.

Schools and public offices are to remain closed until at least Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the country, 86,000 homes were left without power due to trees falling onto power lines.

Nine more deaths from the cold were registered in Ukraine overnight, taking the death toll to over 130. Many of the dead were homeless people with bodies being found in the streets under snow, in rivers and in doorways.

And in Bosnia, the government has declared a state of emergency with avalanches and strong winds cutting off hundreds of villages. Helicopters were needed to deliver aid packages to mountainous areas and to take the sick to hospital.

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