Severe snowstorms and low temperatures across continental Europe over the last four days have been blamed for 80 deaths.
The toll including 42 people, mostly homeless, who died in Poland last weekend. In France, 12 people have died this month in the severe cold, a homeless group said.
Britain’s Met Office issued severe weather warnings for icy roads today in southern, eastern and western England and for heavy snow in Scotland. More snow is expected tomorrow in Scotland and northern England, it said.
UK travel was severely disrupted today as snow and ice led to gridlocked roads, delayed flights and reduced train services.
The Eurostar resumed a limited service through the Channel Tunnel today after its vehicles stopped working in snowy weather, causing four days of cancellations.
Air passengers were warned of possible flight disruptions. EasyJet and Ryanair Holdings cancelled flights from London Luton Airport as well as departures from Italy and Germany, where some airports also shut down.
Gatwick and London City airports opened today after closing last night. Heathrow airport is running a "good service," it said on its website. "The majority of our flights are operating today, but there have been some short-haul cancellations this morning due to the knock-on effect of the weather disruption yesterday," said British Airways. The carrier cancelled many flights from Heathrow yesterday.
Berlin's Tegel Airport in Germany was closed for an hour, and more than 200 flights were canceled at Frankfurt, which opened today after closing yesterday evening. About 400 stranded passengers spent the night at Amsterdam's Schiphol on improvised beds.
The Italian government sent 800 soldiers to help dig out Milan after heavy snows blocked highways and disrupted air and rail travel, Corriere della Sera reported today.
Northwestern Europe may be colder than average in the three months through March, boosting demand for energy to heat homes and offices, forecaster WSI said today in.
The next quarter "will be an extension of what we're having right now" in the region, Todd Crawford, the company's chief meteorologist, said from WSI's office in Andover, Massachusetts. January will be 1 to 2 degrees Celsius colder than usual in northwestern Europe, he said.
The recent colder weather in Europe has been caused by a combination of factors including the current El Nino event and cold mid-latitude North Atlantic sea surface temperatures, Mr Crawford said.