Snow storms cause havoc in eastern and central Europe

Heavy snowstorms and gale force winds have caused havoc in eastern and central Europe.

Power lines were cut to tens of thousands of households in Croatia and to more than four-hundred-and-fifty villages across Romania.

Traffic on the roads, railways and the river Danube has also been badly disrupted.

In Austria more than two-hundred cars were stranded overnight on Thursday on snowbound roads near Vienna, while in Croatia about one-hundred lorries were stuck south of Zagreb.

Gales in Croatia also overturned cars, buses and lorries, uprooted trees and tore roofs off houses.

More snow is forecast for the weekend.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service