WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Extreme cold has hit large parts of Europe, with freezing temperatures bursting railways in Poland, snow covering the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul and smog rising as more coal was burned to generate heat.
In Switzerland, a skier buried in an avalanche in a hospital over the weekend died of his injuries, authorities said Monday.
The country had issued avalanche warnings a few days earlier after heavy snowfall. Officials said the skier and his two companions were buried by an avalanche on Sunday while skiing on marked trails in the Gstaad area. One man freed himself from the snow and then freed one of the others, but the third man could only be found by rescue teams, who arrived later.
The temperature dropped to minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 Fahrenheit) at night in some Polish areas, the coldest night in 11 years. Many trains were delayed on Monday after the tracks were cracked at two train stations in Warsaw.
Hand in hand with the cold, the smog spiked in Warsaw and other parts of Poland, as the cold resulted in more coal being burned for heat. Air pollution in Warsaw was so high that city officials urged people to stay indoors.
Just over Poland’s southwest border, the Czech Republic experienced its coldest night this year with temperatures dropping below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in many places.
The lowest temperature – minus 27 degrees Celsius (minus 16 Fahrenheit) – was recorded Monday in Orlicke Zahori, a mountainous village 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of Prague near the Polish border, according to the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute.
The freezing weather was expected to be replaced by heavy snow in the northeast of the Czech Republic, the institute said.
Winter weather and freezing temperatures were reported all over the Balkans, causing power problems in Serbia and even some snow on the Croatian islands in the Adriatic.
In eastern Albania, temperatures dropped to -13 degrees Celsius (9 Fahrenheit) in Peshkopi, 110 kilometers (70 miles) east of the capital, Tirana. Freezing caused water pipes to freeze and create dangerous driving conditions. Icy roads in the town of Pogradec prevented firefighters from arriving in time at a house fire that killed a man on Monday.
In Istanbul, traffic was brought to a standstill by the snow covering the city, with cars stalling or skidding on the roads.
In Germany, fresh snow, slippery roads and fallen trees led to several car accidents on Sundays and at night, reports dpa news agency. A driver died in southwestern Germany after his car shot over a mountain of snow.
The Nordic region also experienced snow and freezing temperatures, with the coldest temperatures predictably recorded in the Arctic. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute tweeted an ironic message on Monday: “We encourage all knitting enthusiasts to send woolen clothes to their friends in the North.”
In Denmark, police found 17 people naked in ice baths on Sunday in a lake near Roskilde, 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Copenhagen. Everyone in the group, aged between 26 and 51, was provisionally charged with violating pandemic restrictions that limited meetings to five people. Police said they will all be fined 2,500 crowns ($ 405) for first time offenders.
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AP writers from all over Europe contributed.