WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Extreme cold has hit large parts of Europe, with icy temperatures cracking railway lines in Poland, snow covering the Turkish metropolis Istanbul and smog burning more coal to generate heat.
In Switzerland, a skier who was buried by a deluge over the weekend died in a hospital from his injuries, authorities said on Monday.
The country had issued an avalanche warning a few days earlier after heavy snowfall. Officials said the skier and his two companions were buried by an avalanche as they skied off marked roads in the Gstaad area on Sunday. One man freed himself from the snow and then freed one of the others, but the third man could only be found by rescue crews, who later arrived there.
The temperature dropped to minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit) overnight in some Polish areas, the coldest night in 11 years. Many trains were delayed on Monday after tracks at two Warsaw train stations cracked.
Hand in hand with the cold, smog formed in Warsaw and other parts of Poland, as the cold led to an increase in the burning of coal for heat. The levels of air pollution in Warsaw were so high that city officials urged people to stay indoors.
Just across the southwestern border of Poland, the Czech Republic experienced the coldest night this year with temperatures dropping below well below 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in many places.
The lowest temperature – minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 16 degrees Fahrenheit) – was recorded on Monday in Orlicke Zahori, a mountainous village 160 kilometers east of Prague, near the Polish border, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.
The icy weather was expected to be replaced by heavy snowfall in the northeastern Czech Republic, the institute said.
Winter weather and icy temperatures were reported throughout the Balkans, causing power supply problems in Serbia and even bringing snow to the Adriatic islands in Croatia.
In eastern Albania, temperatures dropped as low as minus 13 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) in Peshkopi, 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Tirana. The deep freeze caused water pipes to freeze and create dangerous driving conditions. Icy roads in the city of Pogradec prevented firefighters from arriving in time at a home fire in which a man died early Monday.
In Istanbul, traffic was stopped by the layer of snow that covered the city, with cars stuck or slipping on the roads.
In Germany, fresh snow, slippery roads and fallen trees on Sunday and overnight led to several car accidents, reports the news agency dpa. A driver was killed in southwestern Germany after his car shot over a pile of snow.
The Nordic region has also seen snow and freezing temperatures, with the coldest predictable forecasts in the Arctic. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute tweeted a tongue-in-cheek message on Monday, saying: “We encourage all knitting lovers to send cloud clothing to their friends in the north.”
In Denmark, police on Sunday saw 17 people bathing naked in a lake near Roskilde, 40 kilometers west of Copenhagen. Everyone in the group, aged between 26 and 51, has been provisionally charged with violating pandemic restrictions that limited the rallies to five people. The police said that they all have a fine of 2500 kr. ($ 405) for first offenders will receive.
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AP writers from across Europe contributed.