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Over 40 people have died as a result of the severe icy weather gripping Europe

At least 42 people have died because of weather conditions in Europe since Friday.

Britain Freezes As Siberian Weather Sweeps Across The Country Cornwall, England Matt Cardy Matt Cardy

COUNTRIES ACROSS EUROPE have also shut schools and rushed to shelter homeless people today as the deadly blast of Siberian weather dubbed the “Beast from the East” kept the mercury far below zero.

The European death toll has risen to at least 42 since Friday as the brutal cold claimed its first victim in Serbia, a 75-year-old man whose body was found in a field two days after he went missing from the southern village of Malosista, state television reported.

The victims also include 18 people in Poland, six in the Czech Republic, five in Lithuania, four each in France and Slovakia, and two each in Italy and Romania.

Homeless people account for many of the dead, and cities across Europe have been racing to open emergency shelters to protect people sleeping rough.

In Germany, the national homeless association urged shelters to open during the day and not just at night.

“You can die of cold during the day too,” its chief Werena Rosenke warned.

GERMANY-EUROPE-WEATHER Snowploughs on the A19 motorway in Rostock, Germany Bernd Wustneck / AFP Bernd Wustneck / AFP / AFP

Authorities are also urging people to look out for elderly relatives and neighbours after a French woman in her nineties was found frozen to death outside her retirement home.

In Paris, some 50 regional lawmakers were to spend tonight on the streets to protest the “denial of dignity” suffered by those without roofs over their heads.

And in the northern port of Calais, authorities were launching emergency plans to shelter migrants who camp out near the coast hoping to stow away on trucks bound for Britain.

Schools were shut across Kosovo, western Bosnia and much of Albania, as well as parts of Britain, Italy and Portugal.

Temperatures again plunged below -20 degrees overnight in numerous parts of Europe – even hitting -36 degrees Glattalp, 1,850 metres above sea level in the Swiss mountains.

Ahead of a predicted thaw towards the end of the week, both Belgium and Switzerland marked their coldest night of the winter so far.

And in the usually balmy south of France, residents in Biarritz and Saint-Jean-de-Luz were heading out with skis to zoom down the snowy streets of what are usually beach resorts.

Freezing temperatures, wind and snow in Toulouse Cyclists under snow in Toulouse, France Alain Pitton Alain Pitton

‘Coldest job in Austria’

Europe’s cold snap comes as the Arctic experiences record-high temperatures, prompting scientists to ask if global warming may be playing a role in turning things upside down.

Dubbed the “Siberian bear” by the Dutch and the “snow cannon” by Swedes, the icy blast has played havoc with transport networks.

Swedish authorities urged drivers in parts of the south to leave their cars at home, while British Airways was running a reduced service from London Heathrow today.

Kosovo announced restrictions on electricity usage lasting between one and three hours, due to a surge in power consumption mirrored across Europe as people turn up the thermostat.

925089406 Naples, Italy Salvatore Laporta / Kontrolab Salvatore Laporta / Kontrolab / Kontrolab

In the Netherlands, Amsterdam residents are hoping to be able to skate on the city’s famed canals this weekend, with some areas already closed to boats to allow the ice to solidify.

Even professionals are feeling the chill.

In Amstetten in northwest Austria which is hosting international championships for ice stock –  a sport similar to curling – organisers moved the opening ceremony inside due to the cold.

Austrians were reserving particular sympathy for Ludwig Rasser and Norbert Daxbacher, two employees at the Sonnblick weather station 3,109 metres above sea level.

Handed the honour of having the “coldest job in Austria” by the Oesterreich tabloid, Rasser and Daxbacher are charged with heading out to measure the temperature three times a day.

The process takes an hour in temperatures of -32 degrees – which “with the windchill feels like -60″, Rasser said.

© – AFP, 2018

Read: Here are your rights if your flight gets cancelled

More: People in Leinster and Munster advised to stay in their homes from 4pm tomorrow

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    Mute Kate Flaherty
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:04 PM

    Snowball fight on O’Connell Bridge at 3, Northsiders versus Southsiders to the death!, great fun will be had by all!, people should make the most of the brief reprieve while it lasts.

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    Mute Gavin Scott
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:09 PM

    @Kate Flaherty: not enough bread left for us all. We need to start an annual purge!

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    Mute Kate Flaherty
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:18 PM

    @Gavin Scott: funny!, if for nothing else we’ll remember this one for the bread!, the yeast that forgot the east!

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Feb 28th 2018, 4:06 PM

    Anybody else notice that nobody was buying butter?

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    Mute Ruth McCann
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    Mar 1st 2018, 12:40 AM

    @Kate Flaherty: Northsiders win! :D :D :D

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    Mute COYBIG
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:07 PM

    But apparently we’re snowflakes because everything is closing even though these counties where apparently they’re so amazing at dealing with all types of weather thrown at them, over 40 people have died…..

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    Mute Ruth McCann
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    Mar 1st 2018, 12:23 AM

    @COYBIG: Continental Europe deals with more extreme climate than the UK or Ireland. This is because we are surrounded by water on all sides, the UK included. They have a body of water between them, and Europe, yet they deal with the more extreme weather events than Ireland does. Ireland is covered by water, the Atlantic Ocean (Wild Atlantic Way covers 2,600km and is the longest coastal route in the world. The east coast is covered by a short body of water and land which is the UK. We do NOT cope well with these events, and the extreme temps we deal with is -10. Continental Europe deals with temperatures of -20 or more. I’ve actually experienced this myself in Finland where I was on a skiing trip and it was -20 with a wind chill on top of that. We were only allowed outside for a maximum of 3 hours per day.

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    Mute saoirse janneau
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    Feb 28th 2018, 4:49 PM

    Very sad to see these individual cases of hyperthermia. In particular the old lady in France who made it to her nineties only to die that way. Very high death toll in Poland.

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    Mute Ruth McCann
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    Mar 1st 2018, 12:28 AM

    @Ala Alowska: This is not related to the extreme event that we’re experiencing right now. The issue is the extreme weather event that’s gripping Europe is what;s causing people to die. Even countries who are used to dealing with snow events etc, they can’t all be prepared for an event like this. Our government as inept as they are, are trying their best to get everyone accommodation

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    Mute Etherman
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:16 PM

    What do Eastern European bakers do for the winter?

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Feb 28th 2018, 7:09 PM

    @Etherman: They make pies from the flesh of people who flog ‘bread’ jokes to death. Be careful out there !!

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    Mute Pierre Maanen
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    Feb 28th 2018, 3:48 PM

    Send them to Ireland only to show how it looks like

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