Those who skate in different European places this weekend may have done well to listen to Yoko Ono: “When I walk on thin ice, I pay the price.”
Hundreds of people danced, skated, played hockey or hiked on frozen lakes and canals in Europe over the weekend, but the ice was not always thick enough to keep everyone on their feet.
In Amsterdam, a skater wearing only a swimsuit on a frozen canal gained fame for a few seconds – captured in a video seen nearly seven million times on Tuesday – when he fell through the ice and through ‘ had to save a more careful skater, who also wore more clothes.
In Berlin, police officers flew over frozen lakes in helicopters and ordered hikers and skaters to leave. In the north of England, the Lancashire Wildlife Trust encouraged people to stay away from frozen lakes, where resource rescue was limited.
Temperatures in Europe last week dropped to levels not seen for years, prompting many to violate the restrictions of closure and social distance measures to play in the snow or on the ice. In London, parts of the river froze the Thames, and people skied in the streets of Edinburgh and Paris.
In Athens, unusual snowfalls halted the vaccinations of Covid-19, and authorities asked members of the public to just go outside for essential activities. In Germany, a group of homeless aid workers, BAG W, said last week that five people had died in the cold within a week.
In the Netherlands, where skating on natural ice is a surprise that takes place every few years and amounts to something of a national passion, people, according to the broadcaster, flocked to ice clubs and turned to skating as a happy diversion from a nationwide exclusion and evening clock grounds.
This has in some cases led to inappropriate, even worrying scenes.
In Amsterdam, the swimsuit-clad man was not the only one who misjudged the ice: Spectators helped a group of skaters with ropes and hockey sticks after fell into icy waters of a channel, according to the video posted on social media.
In Berlin, a father and his 1-year-old child were taken to a hospital after falling into a lake, according to a Berlin police. “OFF THE ICE”, it wrote on Twitter. (A thaw has started in most European cities
The Canadian Red Cross has recommended that you only walk or skate on ice that is at least 15 centimeters, or almost 6 centimeters, thick – and even thicker for parties or games.
Those who fell in cities were quickly rescued, but the authorities in remote places urged people to act responsibly.
“Our reserves are remote in nature,” said Alan Wright, campaign manager for the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. “If someone gets into trouble, there will only be a few people to help.”