Europe's cold snap claims second victim

FRANCE reported a second death from freezing temperatures yesterday as blizzards swept through northern and central Europe, forcing flight cancellations at Prague airport and cutting power lines and rail links in Scandinavia.

Much of the continent was battened down against the harsh weather yesterday, with the coldest December in a decade recorded in Britain where temperatures plunged to -11ºC overnight in Scotland and north-eastern England.

In France, where snowstorms left thousands of people trapped in their cars in sub-freezing temperatures this week, road conditions remained icy and dangerous in many areas.

However, the only serious disruptions were in western Brittany and around Calais in the north.

Most of the country has gone on winter alert, opening extra shelters to protect homeless people from the cold, which claimed a second victim overnight on Wednesday night.

The victim, a 52-year-old woman, was found dead outside the wooden shack where she lived in the northwestern town of Le Mans. Police said she had suffered from poor health and had a drinking problem.

A homeless man in his 40s was found dead in a car on Tuesday in the central-eastern city of Lyon, thought to have died of cold.

Prague's Ruzyne airport, the busiest in central and eastern Europe, was closed down overnight due to heavy snowfall, forcing carriers to cancel around 50 flights, both incoming and outgoing.

The airport reopened by midday yesterday, although officials were continuing to deal with high winds whipping snow onto the runways.

Florence airport in northern Italy was also temporarily closed because of snow.