Too Cold
- February 7th, 2012
- Posted by EUEditor
Forecasters in Europe say the bitter cold weather that started before the weekend, will continue throughout this week.
More than 360 people are reported dead from effects of the bad weather, brought in with cold air from Siberia, and disruption has been massive.
Temperatures have been getting down to as low as -30 degrees, even -40 in some parts.
The worst-hit region is Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, that country experiencing half the total of deaths across the continent; but by mid-week fresh heavy snowfalls were coming to the South-east, in Bosnia, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania.
The trouble is also being felt in Western Europe: roads disruption in Belgium, and snowfalls in Spain, and Italy, where they were classed as the most severe in 25 years.
Alarm was a raised by a pause in the flow of gas from Russia, and world oil prices moved upward – though a new forecast suggested global demand for petroleum in 2012 would slip, due to slowing economic growth or outright recession.
Officials in Russia say that heavy local demand in the country, which supplies about a quarter of European demand, has been hampering their efforts to keep up the flow.
The European Commission said the problem with the extreme cold had not reached crisis proportions.
Reference
Reuters, London, “NYMEX-Crude rises on Europe cold snapâ€, 6.2.12.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/07/markets-asia-nymex-idUSL4E8D70062012020, (6.2.12).
The Irish Times, Dublin, “Europe’s deep freeze: death toll mountsâ€, 7.2.12.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0207/1224311400318.html, (7,2,12).
Ben Brumfield, “Deaths mount as winter weather batters Europeâ€, CNN, Atlanta, 7.2.12.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/06/travel/europe-cold-snap/?hpt=hp_t2, (7.1.12).
Pictures
worldbulletin; armageddononline.org; focus-fenÂ