Friday, December 3, 2010

At least 60 dead in Europe as snow, floods cause havoc

Terra Daily via AFP: A cold snap across Europe has claimed at least 60 lives, authorities said Friday, 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….

...Meanwhile in the Western Balkans, flooding caused by rivers swollen through heavy rainfall forced thousands of people from their homes in Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro on Friday, officials said. More than 7,000 people were moved to safer areas in Albania, where Prime Minister Sali Berisha described the situation as "very serious".

Thousands of houses were damaged and roads linking the capital Tirana to the north of the country were completely blocked, local authorities reported....

A Sitka Spruce branch in the now at Eglinton Country Park, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland. Shot by Rosser1954 Roger Griffith

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