IN. Europe freezes

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 8

IN. Europe freezes

NZPA-AP Stockholm | Aa Arctic hlgh-pres- i sure system froze much i of Europe at the week- : end, causing at least four i deaths and draining ■ power supplies on much i of the continent. Helsinki, the Finnish I capital, recorded I —34 the lowest tern- < perature since record- i keeping began in 1881. Neste, the State oil com- < pany, said heating oil demand was four times ] higher than normal for i the time of year. 1 Temperatures in Moscow ranged from —l3 i deg. to —22 deg, and the ’ Soviet labour newspaper, "Trod,” warned that “if i power demands exceed the planned amounts we I will not be able to main- 1 tain service in some I homes.** . I Authorities in Sweden i and Poland warned that

A ;• • ‘ iTtbVcoWconti nues, and SSFJW'SS parts in northern Italy. High winds closed the airport 1b Palermo, Sicily. , . Fag and rain caused cancellations ar diversions from Lisbon airport, in Portugal. Mountain passes were clooed by snow in Spain. But chaos on frozen roads and rails was worst in the north. Trains in Sweden and elsewhere in Scandinavia were delayed for up to 12 hours. Road markings throughout the region have long been covered by packed snow, and many roads in Denmark were closed.

A —mm : a • bus, slipped m fee and" y** y* OfHTTfI MM* FtiAtCv wMIuM WttW • r.rwri»-« “ J**** P^Ter" 1 " smchimi (MUTudilftrty ■■■ severe in communist eastern Europe. Rumania has been suffering power shortages for the last three winters, and Dorbani, near the Soviet border, reported a —lsdeg. temperature. Toss news agency reported yesterday that snow in some areas of the southern Soviet republic of Georgia reached more than Sm deep, the heaviest snowfall in a half-cen-tury. The snow ent off St villages and settlements and caused avalanches. •:».