Europe Winter 2012

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Extreme cold weather hits Europe
Frigid temperatures have gripped Europe in the last week, with the mercury reaching as low as 35 degrees Celsius below zero. After what had been a relatively mild winter, the sudden cold caught many unprepared. Eastern Europe is hardest hit, with over 100 deaths in Ukraine, and with over 11,000 people in remote villages cut off by snow in Serbia. Most of the fatalities recorded have been homeless people found frozen to death outside, and emergency tents with hot meals have been set up to help them in several affected countries. Russia and Poland are mobilizing help for the homeless. Travel in Romania has been chaos as a blizzard hampered efforts to clear both rails and roads. Recorded temperatures in Italy were the lowest in 27 years.

 

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A woman looks out a bus in Bucharest on February 2, 2012.

 

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Skiers approach Wendelstein church near Bayrischzell, Germany on January 31, 2012.

 

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People carry food supplies in a remote village cut off by road due to high snowfall near Sokolac, Bosnia on February 1, 2012. Rescue helicopters are airlifting supplies and evacuating dozens of people from snow-covered villages in Bosnia as the death toll from Eastern Europe's severe cold spell has risen to 79.

 

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Emin Hotovic, 55, carries a 25-kilo sack of flour and some groceries to his remote village of Hotani, Bosnia on February 2, 2012.

A woman carries firewood in Bucharest on January 31, 2012.

 

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A man braves the bitter cold as he makes his way to exercise in a park in Moscow on February 1, 2012. Temperatures in Moscow fell to -21 degrees Celsius.

People walk on frozen Black Sea waters next to an ice-covered dam in Constanta, Romania on February 1, 2012.

 

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A snow kiter makes his way on the Schauinsland mountain near Freiburg, Germany on February 1, 2012.

Television technicians move their equipment from the field as the Italian Serie A soccer match between Parma and Juventus is cancelled due to weather at the Tardini stadium in Parma on January 31, 2012.

 

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Deer run in a snow-covered field near the village of Mileikovo, Belarus on January 31, 2012

A cow looks out of its stable in Davos, Switzerland on February 2, 2012.

 

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A stray dog sleeps in the snow in Bucharest on January 26, 2012.

A seagull rests in Istanbul on February 1, 2012. Heavy snow and cold weather paralyzed life in Istanbul and closed several roads in eastern Turkey.

 

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A man rides a horse in the village of Vrapce, Serbia on February 1, 2012.

A horse-drawn sleigh makes its way on a snowy road in Klosters Monbiel, Switzerland on February 2, 2012.

 

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A man walks his dog along the banks of the Neris river in Vilnius, Lithuania on January 31, 2012, as morning temperatures plummeted to -23 Celsius.

A man walks through blowing snow in Roncesvalles, Spain on February 2, 2012.

 

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Boys play on a frozen pond in Prague on January 31, 2012.

Young men enjoy hockey as the sun sets over a frozen dam in Brno, Czech Republic on February 1, 2012. Temperatures in the Czech Republic plummeted to lows of minus 30 Celsius.

 

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Icicles hang on the branches of a bush on the banks of the River Elbe in Dresden, Germany on February 2, 2012.

Reed sprouts are covered with ice at Lake Zwischenahner Meer in Bad Zwischenahn, Germany on January 31, 2012.

 

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Frost decorates a window on February 1, 2012 in Godewaersvelde, France.

An Orthodox Christian cathedral stands amid a winter landscape in Kiev on January 30, 2012.

 

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A van drives along a road near the village of Sliznevo as temperatures fell to minus 34 Celsius outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on January 30, 2012.

People walk through the snow in Istanbul on February 1, 2012.

 

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A policeman tries to open the frozen door of his car stuck in a snow drift during a blizzard in Afumati, Romania on January 26, 2012.

A man walks in the center of Kiev where temperatures dropped to minus 20 Celsius on February 1, 2012.

 

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An gargoyle grows an icy beard in a fountain in Zurich on February 2, 2012.

 

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Tourists pull their bags through the snow by the Eiffel Tower in Paris as Europe freezes.

 

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People skate on the frozen Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam. While sports events across Europe fall victim to the deep freeze, the Dutch are welcoming the drop in temperatures, hoping that the revered "Eleven Cities" speed skating race can be staged later this month for the first time in 15 years. The race, held along a 125-mile (200-kilometre) network of canals connecting 11 towns and cities in Friesland province, would cause a national frenzy, drawing thousands of participants and more than a million spectators. It was last held in 1997.