Naples is blanketed in heaviest snow for 50 years

Naples is blanketed in heaviest snow for 50 years



Naples has seen its heaviest snow in half a century as a blast of Siberian weather continued to send temperatures plunging across Europe.



The snowfall led to the closure of the city's airport and transport in the city was severely disrupted while schools were forced to close.



The city's record snowfall came as at least 12 people died during the blizzard in four European countries and temperatures plummeted well below zero across the continent.



Polish police said five people died from hypothermia in freezing cold as low as minus 22C - bringing the number of d*aths from hypothermia in the country to 58 this winter.



Another three died in Romania where snowdrifts closed dozens of roads and stranded drivers all night, and three died in France where snow piled on the beaches of Corsica for the first time in 30 years.



In Lithuania, temperatures dropped to as low as minus 26 degrees Celsius overnight, and one suspected de*th of a man from freezing was reported in the capital Vilnius.



One of the coldest temperatures is Europe was recorded at minus 30.4C on Germany's highest peak, the Zugspitze, with minus 10C common across the country.



Even colder was at Glattalp in Switzerland, where the temperature fell to minus 38C - extreme even for the 1,850m altitude area.





An inaccurate forecast in Naples meant that the city's civil emergency department did not initially order the closure of its schools.



Naples' education department said the inaction was in contrast to the 'copious snowfall', which has 'whitewashed the city', the Italian Insider reported.



The city's mayor has advised residents of the southern Italian port only to leave their homes 'if strictly necessary'.



Naples' Capodichino airport was closed for around 90 minutes on Tuesday morning due to poor visibility caused by the snow, while bus, tram, and train traffic was also affected.



A rare snowstorm brought Rome its first snowfall in six years and disrupted transport, shut down schools and prompted authorities to call in the army to help clear the streets.



The Italian capital's first snowfall since February 2012 saw about three to four centimetres settling on the ground on Sunday.



Schools were closed in the city on Monday as local authorities opened several train stations as emergency shelters for the homeless.





British and American students were captured on camera as they took part in a snowball fight, singing their respective national anthems as they pelted each other with snowballs in St. Peters Square in the Vatican.



Elsewhere in Italy, the snow led to the closure of many schools and daycare centres, to the consternation of parents already preparing for closures next week linked to this weekend's general election.



Public anger was also growing over the disruptions to rail services across the country, as travellers learned that many track switches did not have defrosting equipment, meaning they had to be dug out by hand.



And a driver in Turin got a fright when a stalactite broke off from an overhead bridge and shattered his windshield - though he managed to keep control of his vehicle.





The icy weather is in stark contrast to conditions in the Arctic itself, which is experiencing an 'off-the-charts' heatwave this week, according to the European Geosciences Institute.



Meteorologists have documented temperatures above freezing in some parts of the Arctic, causing astonishment among many scientists.



Temperatures in Poland were expected to remain below minus 12C across the country on Tuesday, with the cold made worse by a biting wind.



Authorities in some cities and towns, especially in the east where temperatures are lowest, will be placing coal heaters in the streets to help people keep warm.



Dutch authorities banned boats from some of Amsterdam's iconic canals to help them freeze over so that residents can lace up their skates and glide over the frozen waterways for the first time since 2012.



As well as banning boats, the local water authority said it is closing sluices and locks to help ice growth by slowing the movement of water.



'We are doing everything we can to allow residents and visitors to hopefully be able to skate on the canals,' Alderman Udo Kock said.



In France, which has remained frigid but dry during the cold snap, forecasters warned of heavy snow across much of the country starting Wednesday - though spring-like temperatures would soon follow.



On Tuesday, residents of Ajaccio on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica woke up to some 15 centimetres of snow on the beach, something not seen since 1986. 



In the makeshift camp set up along the banks of a canal that runs through north-east Paris, a group of largely Afghan migrants lit a small fire on to warm up their hands after a sleepless night which saw temperatures drop below minus 5C.