Artic conditions in Europe.

Video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8449722.stm

Snow brings Germany travel chaos

More than 150 flights from Germany's largest airport, Frankfurt, have been cancelled as snowfall continues. Many passengers were left stranded in the airport as snow ploughs attempted to clear runways. In Nuremberg, one plane slid off the runway.

A blizzard is forecast to hit the country soon and people have been advised to stock up on enough essential supplies to last up to four days.

Many other countries across Europe have also been hit by the bitter conditions.

Nearly 140 people have frozen to death in the past few weeks in Poland, and in Switzerland, heavy snow has cut the flow of lorries through Alpine tunnels.

The Eurostar service between Britain, France and Belgium was expecting to run a limited service on Saturday. Passengers have been urged to cancel or postpone their journeys if they can.

'Paralysed'

Germany's Civil Protection Office (BBK) said heavy snowfalls over the weekend could trigger local power cuts and severely disrupt public transport.

On Friday evening, Nuremberg airport was closed briefly after an Air Berlin flight with 133 people on board skidded off the runway and became stuck in snow. No-one was injured in the incident.

Gale-force winds and drifting snow are expected to bring traffic to a standstill in many parts of Germany, a situation exacerbated by shortages of grit.

"What is being forecast for the weekend could lead to chaotic traffic conditions and potentially leave large parts of Germany completely paralysed," warned the Auto Club Europa.

Airports have called in extra staff and rail operators have warned of delays.

The snow is already more than 30cm (1 ft) deep on the isle of Ruegen, off Germany's Baltic coast, ZDF TV says.

German households have been advised to keep three or four days' worth of provisions, including alternative cooking fuel in case of power cuts. Among the essential items listed by the BBK is a battery-powered radio, for checking weather reports.

In cities like Duesseldorf, Red Cross workers were setting up heated tents for emergency accommodation as up to 10 homeless people have frozen to death in recent weeks because of the cold weather.

The busy Gotthard and San Bernardino tunnels under the Alps were temporarily closed to heavy goods vehicles on Friday, the Swissinfo news website reported.

Icebreakers

In the UK, the worst winter for decades has led to a fear for energy supplies as temperatures dropped as low as -22C (-8F) in some parts.

Local authorities have agreed to cut their use of salt by 25% in an attempt to preserve dwindling supplies.

British Airways cancelled 54 flights from Heathrow on Saturday. Delays were expected at other airports and low-budget airline Easyjet said it was cancelling some flights.

In the Netherlands, icebreakers have been deployed to clear shipping routes such as the Twente canal, the harbours of Almelo and Enschede and the Ijsselmeer inland sea.

Northern Spain is expecting more heavy snowfalls while the country's south has been hit by severe floods.

France is also braced for more snow. Meteo France warned: "The amount of snow expected is significant, exceptional even."

Parts of France - notably the south-western region of Provence - are without power and suffering transport delays after up to 20cm of snow fell in recent days.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/h...pe/8449906.stm

Some beautiful photos (Kirsten you should send them some of yours)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8446490.stm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...miles/wave.gifBarbara, Kirsten, Randi and all other fellow Europeans, keep warm & stay safe.

Thanks Chris! :) It has been bitterly cold here, but we haven't had much snow the last few days - at least in Copenhagen. Some nurses had to take double shifts last week, and patients who were to go home had to stay in the hospital because of all the snow.

I just checked and luckily we're up to -3C degrees now, but it's windy. Brrr!!

I have stocked up! ;)

I think the whole world is seeing record colds. Here in Alabama we are having record colds. The Midwest and Eastern states are seeing the coldest winter in 25 years. It was actually colder in Alabama than in Anchorage Alaska yesterday and last night. Brrr:confused:

Wishing warm thoughts to all people in every nation.:love:

Yes, it's really cold here and we've got a lot of snow. Here are some pictures of my street today:

http://www.catmom.de/pics/daisy1.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pics/daisy2.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pics/daisy3.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pics/daisy4.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pics/daisy5.jpg

Kirsten

We have about the same amount of snow here in Ohio. It's cold but oh so beautiful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marigold2

We have about the same amount of snow here in Ohio. It's cold but oh so beautiful.

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I agree. I think if I have time today, I'm going to go out and about and take random pictures around where I live.

Looks like last months blizzard here, made it over there. We had about 2 feet last month right before the holidays. It looks beautiful though I hope you all keep warm! We had about less then an inch thursday night.

We had a little more snow yesterday, but the 20" we had before Christmas is gone, with the exception of what is left of the mountains of snow in the store parking lots where it was plowed.

It's still brutally cold here tho.

So this is global warming??? Feels more like the Ice Age to me.

We do not want to hijack this thread but the weather we are seeing is one of the symptoms of global warming. In the US the Jet Stream is way off course. This cold goes all the way down into Florida.

Not as much snow as we usually have for this time of year, but we still have about 3 ft of it. The cold is about on par, -25 this morning, warming up fast, it's already -17. We're expecting a very mild week starting tomorrow night, I hope they're right. We might even see some melting. So far we haven't had much in the way of storms, we ususally get that middle of Feb and March.

We don't have that much snow. It is rather in the north of Germany. But we had lots of ice as very humid snow met a cold ground. So we had planned to have dinner with friends tonight and had to cancel it as driving would have been to dangerous :(

I'm not from Toronto, Ontario, Canada but according to everyone else, it's "freezing" out & there is a lot of snow. To me this is late/early fall/winter weather.

The weather shifting just makes me think of what happened to the Dinosaurs. But instead of a giant meteor, it's us.

For people not use to snow or freezing weather, I wish you all the best!

To be honest, 4 days isn't enough food storage. Try to store enough for simple meals for 2 weeks. Simple canned goods might not be a fantastic meal, but I've gone through isolation with an ice storm that kept most people with no hydro for 3 weeks & too many with non for 2 months (too much ice & trees to cut through to get to them). Since then I have a cupboard full of canned goods that I keep there just encase. Everyone who went through it is mentally traumatize for life as nearly everyone I know that went through it back in 1998 still keeps a cupboard full of canned goods. You want canned goods you can eat right from the can, as you might not be able to produce enough heat to cook a meal.

Things like canned beans, peas, mixed veggies are great for veggies intake. Canned brown beans is great out of a can too. Chef-Boyardie (sp?) is great for meat intake.. it's poor quality food, but it's great food out of a can & lasts a VERY long time & is cheap to buy in large amounts. The no-name is even cheaper & I find no-name tastes better anyways.

Water is important too, stock up! If you have a way to create a lot of heat and are isolated & run out of water you can safely "hard boil" snow & "should" be ok.

Since your not use to cold weather your pipes might not be deep enough in the ground & could freeze (no water)... keep the kitchen sink running (more like dripping)... this will "help" in preventing the pipes from freezing on you. Wasteful can be. We collected the water in a large pot & used it for cooking. We did our best not to waste it.

Also stock up on candles & matches. It's amazing on how much heat candles can create in a small room, or in your hands. A candle can also heat canned goods, just make sure to OPEN the can before heating as it can blow up when closed. Not to forget they create light. Just be smart on which candles you buy & which candle holds, as you want to create heat/light safely :)

Hope this helps someone with no experience in cold weather :)