WARSAW: A cold wave across Europe has left at least 20 people dead in the past two days, including several homeless and migrants, authorities said on Saturday, with the frigid temperatures expected to continue through the weekend. It has also been the coldest Orthodox Christmas in Russia for 120 years, with thermometers reading minus 30C overnight in Moscow, and minus 24C in St Petersburg. In Poland, 55 deaths have been linked to the cold weather since November 1, authorities said, with temperatures dropping to -30 degrees Celsius in the mountains of southern Poland in recent days. "Seven people died on Friday in what was the deadliest day this winter," said spokeswoman Bozena Wysocka from the Polish government centre for security (RCB). "We recorded three other victims the previous day," she said. “This takes to 53 the number of hypothermia victims since Nov. 1.”

In Italy in the past 48 hours the cold has been blamed for seven deaths, including five homeless people, two of them Polish nationals, authorities said. There was heavy snowfall in central Italy and also in the southeast where the airports at Bari and Brindisi as well as in Sicily were closed on Saturday morning. Temperatures in Moscow fell to minus 30 degrees overnight, and to minus 24 in Saint Petersburg, where police found the body of a man who had died of hypothermia. In Bulgaria, police said two men from Iraq and a Somali woman died from cold in the mountains near Turkey as they tried to make their way toward Europe and a passenger train derailed after it hit a pile of snow in the central part of the country. Authorities expect the toll to rise as weather conditions are set to remain unchanged this weekend

At least 23 people die in cold snap across Europe was posted in World of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on January 08, 2017 and was last updated on January 08, 2017. The heavy snowstorms reached Turkey, paralyzing its biggest city, Istanbul, where almost 65 centimeters (25 inches) of snow fell, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled on Saturday.
A cold spell with the temperature reaching −30 °C in Moscow and other parts of Eastern Europe hits Europe. Nearly 20 people die in recent days; 10 in Poland.