60 dead in Europe as snow, floods cause havoc

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Finance Minister AMA Muhith addressing the workshop in the city Tuesday.— FE Photo

LONDON, Dec 4 (AFP): A cold snap across Europe has claimed at least 60 lives, authorities said as snow disrupted transport in Britain and serious flooding forced thousands of people to be evacuated in the Balkans.
Seventeen people died from the cold in Central Europe in the past 24 hours, bringing the total this week to 45. A further 11 died in Russia, plus three in France and one in Germany, according to local authorities.
At least 30 people, mainly homeless men, have died in Poland in the past week, and temperatures dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius (five degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.
Temperatures plunged to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit) in Braemar, Scotland, while Britain struggled to get back to its feet after days of transport chaos caused by bad weather.
London's Gatwick airport reopened on Friday after a two-day shutdown due to snow, but other airports including London Heathrow and Glasgow warned of more cancellations and delays.
Many trains were cancelled due to snow and travel by road was slow going, while around 2,000 schools remained closed.
Despite Gatwick finally clearing the runways, freezing fog meant flights would be limited and "delays and cancellations inevitable", Europe's eighth-busiest passenger airport said.
Eurostar, which operates high-speed passenger trains linking London with Paris and Brussels, said it was running a revised timetable, with 17 services cancelled. It warned of delays through the weekend.
Britain's Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has ordered a review of how transport operators have coped with the cold snap.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said there were "no major concerns" over supplies of food, petrol, diesel or gas despite the continued freezing conditions, even though there were warnings of shortages in some newspapers.
Police in Newcastle in the northeast of England reminded locals to wear a coat when they hit the pubs this weekend. "Geordies" are famed for their indifference to cold weather.
But police in Chatham, southeast of London, were not amused when a woman called the emergency services to report the theft of a snowman.
In Germany a man in his sixties was found dead in the snow outside a savings bank in Leipzig.
Authorities ordered all drivers to equip their vehicles with winter tyres from Saturday, or face a penalty of up to 80 euros (105 dollars).