Europe's big freeze was blamed for scores of deaths and ice blocked waterways across the continent as forecasters yesterday warned of more severe weather to come.
Among the few to celebrate the low temperatures were Dutch fans of a rarely-staged ice skating marathon, and traders holding oil futures, whose prices rose on expectations of increased European demand for energy.
But in France, where at least IS people died from the cold in the last few days, some 30 homeless people burst into an exclusive hotel to protest at their plight.
Austrian shipping authorities said much of the Danube, Europe's busiest east-west waterway, remained closed.