This Article is From Jan 12, 2010

Europe grapples with harsh winter weather

Europe grapples with harsh winter weather
London: The cold wave continues to sweep European nations, grounding  airplanes, trains and cars. Snow and icy weather conditions have disrupted travel across Europe and brought down power supplies in some areas.

The Arctic freeze has caused havoc in some countries, but in Moscow, Russians were stoically braving temperatures of around minus 15 degrees Celsius, which are normal for this time of the year.

Muscovites wrapped up warm and carried on with their daily business, as workers cleared snow and ice from roads and pavements.

There are even signs that the city is beginning to recover from months of economic stagnation caused by the global financial crisis.

Construction work has started again at some sites and pleasure boats are back on the river, despite the icy water.

In Poland, heavy snowfall over the weekend was causing problems for commuters on Monday morning. Workers were out in force to clear the streets.

The majority of intercity trains have been delayed or cancelled, Polish broadcaster TVN reported.

Residents of the Polish town of Olsztyn had no power or water, after the weight of large amounts of snow brought down several trees, damaging power lines.

Many shops were forced to stay closed on Monday morning, however, some shop owners were using small generators to keep their businesses running.

In Germany, life was slowly getting back to normal after a weekend of heavy snowfall and traffic chaos, but there were still reports of some flight delays and the roads to some smaller villages remained blocked on Monday.

Fifteen flights were cancelled early on Monday morning at Frankfurt airport, according to German broadcaster RTL.

The village of Harkensee in the northeast of the country was completely cut off and local construction workers provided equipment to clear the blocked roads.

Train services were also interrupted in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern area after a train became trapped by heavy snow near the village of Anklam.
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