The cold snap that washed over the islands may have had people rushing to switch on their heaters, but it also kept the Civil Protection Department busy extinguishing house fires.

On Saturday evening, firefighters had to rush to E.B. Vella Street in Mosta to extinguish a fire that had spread throughout a house with a number of people inside.

Meanwhile, about a half hour later, the CPD officials were called to another house, this time in Marsascala, to extinguish a fire there.

Sources within the department said that another house caught fire that evening, while another report came in during the day yesterday.

While the official reports on what caused the fires were still being drafted, the sources said that it seemed as though the fires had occurred in places where heaters were in use.

The temperatures over the weekend dropped to some 8˚C but felt even lower as a result of the high winds.

Health authorities encouraged people to keep warm as temperatures kept plunging lower, instructing elderly people to ensure rooms were no colder than 21˚C during the day and 18˚C at night.

The health authorities also urged people to avoid close contact with people sick with the flu, to wash their hands frequently and to follow coughing etiquette.