At least 60 people have died across Europe during the current cold snap, as snow plagued transport in Britain yesterday and serious flooding prompted mass evacuations in the Balkans.

Seventeen people died in Central Europe in the last 24 hours from the cold, bringing the total this week to 45. A further 11 died in Russia, plus three in France and one in Germany, according to local authorities, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

At least 30 people, mainly homeless men, have died in Poland in the past week, and temperatures dropped to minus 15 degrees Celsius overnight. Temperatures plunged to minus 20 degrees Celsius in Braemar, Scotland, while Britain struggled to get back to its feet after days of transport chaos.

London's Gatwick airport reopened yesterday after a two-day shutdown due to snow, but others, including London Heathrow and Glasgow, warned of more cancellations and delays. Many trains were cancelled due to snow and travel by road was slow going, and more than 2,000 schools remained closed.

Despite Gatwick finally clearing the runways, freezing fog meant flights would be limited and 'delays and cancellations inevitable', Europe's eighth-busiest passenger airport said. 'It is likely to take a few days before flight schedules return to normal.'

Eurostar, which operates high-speed passenger trains linking London with Paris and Brussels, said it was running a revised timetable, with 17 services cancelled. It warned of delays through the weekend.

In Germany, a man in his sixties was found dead in the snow outside a savings bank in Leipzig. Authorities ordered all drivers to equip their vehicles with winter tyres from today, or face a penalty.

Temperatures in Moscow hit a low of minus 24 degrees Celsius, the lowest for the season in decades, weather authorities said. In the remote Evenk region in Siberia, temperatures hit a crisp minus 51 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile in the Western Balkans, flooding caused by rivers swollen through heavy rainfall forced thousands of people from their homes in Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro, officials said.

More than 7,000 people were moved to safer areas in Albania, where Prime Minister Sali Berisha described the situation as 'very serious'.

In Bosnia authorities declared a state of emergency after some 1,000 homes were flooded around the town of Bijeljina along the Drina river, the natural border between Bosnia and Serbia.

In Serbia, 1,400 people were evacuated from Loznica town. In Montenegro 1,300 people were evacuated due to the 'unprecedented' floods that hit the country. – TradeArabia News Service