Dang that Global Warming

Plummeting winter temperatures have claimed dozens of lives across Central and Eastern Europe as the region battles a big freeze that is expected to worsen over the next few days. At least 50 people have died, mainly in Ukraine and Poland, as an icy continental weather front from Siberia has dragged temperatures to as low as -27 degrees Celsius, and forecasters in Poland have said that thermometers could hit -30 later in the week. The cold weather has even travelled as far south as Bulgaria where temperatures in the capital Sofia fell to -20, the lowest in 50 years.

A train makes its way through a snow-covered forest in the Harz national park near Schierke, central Germany

A girl looks out from a bus window covered with frost as temperatures reached -15 degrees Celsius in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv

People climb the frozen Radau waterfalls near Bad Harzburg, Germany

A monument for Jewish writer Sholem Aleichem is covered with snow after heavy snowfalls in the Ukrainian capital Kiev

A man walks in the snow covered Sultanahmet square in Istanbul with the Ottoman-era Sultanahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, in the background

Ice floes are seen on the Oder river covered with drift ice near Hohenwutzen, Germany, near the Polish border

Frost-covered trees can be seen at the Essigberg near the central German city of Kassel, as temperatures dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius

A dog walks across a frozen lake in a park in Bucharest. Temperatures plunged to minus 27 degrees Celsius in central Romania.

A snowman is seen in a park in Turin, northern Italy. The coldest weather Europe has seen in years is set to continue this week across the continent.

A squirrel curls up to protect itself from freezing daytime temperatures which have dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius in Warsaw's central Lazienki Park

People skate on a frozen lake near Lytse Wielen, in the north of the Netherlands

Petre Andrei, 56, shovels the snow covering his car in Movilita, 45 km northeast of Bucharest. Romania drafted in the army to rescue hundreds of travellers stranded by blizzards that dumped up to a metre of snow in 24 hours, derailing a train and forcing authorities to shut down motorways and ports and cancel flights.

A group of skiers walks up to the snow covered Wendelstein church on top of the Wendelstein mountain near Bayrischzell, southern Germany

A view over Turin in northern Italy, following heavy snowfall overnight

Icicles form on a house in the southern German town of Mitterfirmiansreut. The Siberian cold front "Cooper" has brought icy temperatures, dropping to -10 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

The sun sets on the freezing Wisla river in the Polish capital Warsaw, where temperatures plunged to minus 27 degrees Celsius

An ice fisherman waits for a catch on a frozen lake near the Bulgarian capital Sofia. A Siberian cold front hit the Balkan country with temperatures dropping to -24 degrees Celsius in some places.

Inmates Inmates from the nearby Jilava prison carry shovels to help clear a snowed-in stray dog shelter in Glina, Romania

A resident takes a walk at the shore of frozen River Spree in Berlin's Mitte district

People watch their dogs play as they stand at a frozen lake in Tiergarten park during a cold winter day in Berlin

A person walks through the snow protected by an umbrella at the Cimetiere des Rois, in Geneva

Public buses are seen from the observation deck of Sapphire Tower in Istanbul

Houses in the old centre of Utrecht in the Netherlands are covered with a thin layer of snow

A man walks as the sun rises behind chimneys of a thermal power station in Sofia. Record low temperatures were registered around Bulgaria on Tuesday, as the mercury continued to drop, threatening shipping on the Danube and closing hundreds of schools.

A municipal worker spreads salt on a road covered by snow in Vodable, central France, after the first snowfall of the season

Reed sprouts are covered with thick ice at lake Zwischenahner Meer ind Bad Zwischenahn, northern Germany. After months of mild winter weather, a Siberian cold front has reached central and eastern Europe.

A woman walks past a heart drawn on a light sprinkling of snow in front of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin

A tourist skis with novelty warm clothing in the Thuringian Forest near Oberhof, central Germany