Cold brings chaos to Europe | All media content | DW | 08.01.2017

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Environment

Cold brings chaos to Europe

Temperatures around freezing point and icy rain: Black ice caused numerous accidents over the weekend. At least six people died in central Europe. And winter is taking its toll elsewhere as well.

  • Deutschland Zahlreiche Unfälle nach arktischen Temperaturen und Blitzeis (picture alliance/dpa/S. Ebel)

    Sleet from Lyon to Lübeck

    On Saturday, large parts of central Europe were hit by black ice. In the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania (above), police closed several motorways after numerous accidents. In Lower Saxony, in northwestern Germany, two people died in a head-on collision. In France, four people died when a bus slid off the road near Lyon. Some 20 people were injured.

  • Deutschland Zahlreiche Unfälle nach arktischen Temperaturen und Blitzeis (picture alliance/dpa/D. Reinhardt)

    Pavements like skating rinks

    Black ice occurs when raindrops are so cold that they freeze while coming down to earth. This can turn pavements or roads into dangerous patches of ice within seconds or minutes. Drivers of vehicles are not the only ones in danger!

  • Türkei Schnee auf dem Flughafen Istanbul (picture-alliance/dpa/I. Yildlz)

    Istanbul: Late and canceled flights

    Sleet can also crystallize on aircraft. The added weight can become a serious danger in the air. But in Istanbul, Turkey, hundreds of planes remained grounded at the city's two airports not because of sleet, but because of a heavy snowstorm. Road traffic also almost came to a halt at times.

  • Refugees in Belgrade (picture-alliance/ZUMA Wire/D. Balducci)

    Spending winter nights outside

    Temperatures in eastern Europe have dipped far under freezing point. During the winter months, more than 100 people freeze to death here every year. Most of them are homeless people. This winter, according to Human Rights Watch, some 2,000 refugees are sleeping out in the open or in tents in Serbia (above) and Hungary - at temperatures of currently -20 C (-4 F).

  • Child with dustpan full of snow on Lesbos (Getty Images/AFP/STR)

    Snow in the Mediterranean

    Winter has also come to the Greek island of Lesbos. In the refugee camp there (above), authorities handed out blankets and fan heaters to migrants and opened heated halls and underground stations for homeless people. Snow is very rare on the Greek islands. Local media in the port city of Rethymno on Crete said it snowed there for the first time in 40 years on Sunday morning.

  • Skating in Moscow's Red Square (Getty Images/AFP/N. Kolesnikova)

    Winter joys - and sorrows

    Russia, on the other hand, is very used to bone-chilling temperatures. Many people there - as here in Moscow - make a virtue of necessity and have fun in the cold. But people freeze to death here every year as well. And the temperatures are extremely low at present, going down to -50 C in some places - some 15 degrees less than is usual at this time of year.

  • Foggy view of Rhine (DW)

    Bleak outlook

    The morning after the black ice, thick fog envelops much of central Europe. The Rhine can barely be seen from the windows of Deutsche Welle in Bonn, even though the river is just some 200 meters (yards) away. And the forecasts remain gloomy: Temperatures are meant to rise in the next few days, but winter could still be in for the long - and very cold - haul.


  • Deutschland Zahlreiche Unfälle nach arktischen Temperaturen und Blitzeis (picture alliance/dpa/S. Ebel)

    Sleet from Lyon to Lübeck

    On Saturday, large parts of central Europe were hit by black ice. In the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania (above), police closed several motorways after numerous accidents. In Lower Saxony, in northwestern Germany, two people died in a head-on collision. In France, four people died when a bus slid off the road near Lyon. Some 20 people were injured.

  • Deutschland Zahlreiche Unfälle nach arktischen Temperaturen und Blitzeis (picture alliance/dpa/D. Reinhardt)

    Pavements like skating rinks

    Black ice occurs when raindrops are so cold that they freeze while coming down to earth. This can turn pavements or roads into dangerous patches of ice within seconds or minutes. Drivers of vehicles are not the only ones in danger!

  • Türkei Schnee auf dem Flughafen Istanbul (picture-alliance/dpa/I. Yildlz)

    Istanbul: Late and canceled flights

    Sleet can also crystallize on aircraft. The added weight can become a serious danger in the air. But in Istanbul, Turkey, hundreds of planes remained grounded at the city's two airports not because of sleet, but because of a heavy snowstorm. Road traffic also almost came to a halt at times.

  • Refugees in Belgrade (picture-alliance/ZUMA Wire/D. Balducci)

    Spending winter nights outside

    Temperatures in eastern Europe have dipped far under freezing point. During the winter months, more than 100 people freeze to death here every year. Most of them are homeless people. This winter, according to Human Rights Watch, some 2,000 refugees are sleeping out in the open or in tents in Serbia (above) and Hungary - at temperatures of currently -20 C (-4 F).

  • Child with dustpan full of snow on Lesbos (Getty Images/AFP/STR)

    Snow in the Mediterranean

    Winter has also come to the Greek island of Lesbos. In the refugee camp there (above), authorities handed out blankets and fan heaters to migrants and opened heated halls and underground stations for homeless people. Snow is very rare on the Greek islands. Local media in the port city of Rethymno on Crete said it snowed there for the first time in 40 years on Sunday morning.

  • Skating in Moscow's Red Square (Getty Images/AFP/N. Kolesnikova)

    Winter joys - and sorrows

    Russia, on the other hand, is very used to bone-chilling temperatures. Many people there - as here in Moscow - make a virtue of necessity and have fun in the cold. But people freeze to death here every year as well. And the temperatures are extremely low at present, going down to -50 C in some places - some 15 degrees less than is usual at this time of year.

  • Foggy view of Rhine (DW)

    Bleak outlook

    The morning after the black ice, thick fog envelops much of central Europe. The Rhine can barely be seen from the windows of Deutsche Welle in Bonn, even though the river is just some 200 meters (yards) away. And the forecasts remain gloomy: Temperatures are meant to rise in the next few days, but winter could still be in for the long - and very cold - haul.


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