Big freeze hits northern Europe

About fifty people have so far died in eastern Europe as extremely cold weather continues to maintain its icy grip.

The majority of the dead were homeless people, who froze to death when they were caught by temperatures as low as minus thirty-five degrees Celsius.

The worst affected countries were Russia and Poland, where a total of twenty-two people died.

There were further deaths in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania.

A state of emergency was declared in Russia's Black Sea area when high winds brought down power lines.

Forecasters say warmer weather is now slowly spreading from the west.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service