Europe shivered under the lash of a snowy pre-Christmas cold snap yesterday that closed airports, caused chaos on the roads and gave some school kids an early start to their holidays.
The Swiss canton of Grisons recorded a record low temperature of minus 32 degrees Celsius overnight, and early snow was seen across the continent from the white cliffs of Dover to the Black Sea.
Two of London's airports were closed overnight after heavy snow fell across south and east England, with a score of incoming flights being diverted to other British destinations.
Gatwick and Luton airports were later able to reopen after workers cleared snow from their runways, but forecasters warned of a repeat of the bad weather over the weekend.
More than 1,500 British schools closed early on the last day of term, giving pupils an early start to their Christmas holidays, as between five and 15 centimetres of snow fell in some areas.
Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, eastern England, where she arrived on Wednesday for the annual Christmas celebrations with the rest of the royal family, was also hit by heavy snowfall.
Hundreds of drivers had to spend the night in their cars in Kent in southeast England, while police in neighbouring Essex reported 180 accidents.
In Greece, an Italian engineer was killed on Thursday by a landslide caused by recent heavy rains.
The engineer was working on a tunnel on the country's main highway linking the capital Athens and the northern city of Salonika. Officials say it will now remain closed for at least several weeks.
Romania was also hit by a thick blanket of snow that caused major transport problems and led to power blackouts in some areas of the southeastern European country.
Most flights from Bucharest airport were delayed, some by as much as two and a half hours, and many train services from the capital were cancelled.
The winter snows also caused major disruption in Paris, with officials asking airlines to cancel 20 percent of their flights into and out of the main Charles de Gaulle airport until Friday evening.
Flight delays because of the bad weather were up to three hours in Charles de Gaulle and Orly airport, airline officials said.