Heidelberg frozen solid
The Big Freeze in Europe continues. This clearly has nothing to do with climate change, it’s just weather. However, it does demonstrate the damaging power of extreme cold. Now imagine what it would be like surviving in these extreme weather conditions with astronomical energy prices as a results of pointless “climate change mitigation policies”:
You would be forgiven for thinking these stunning vistas lay deep in the heart of Antarctica.
But they are, in fact, what has become of the European landscape as temperatures plummet to nearly -40C – the coldest snap in decades.
Rivers, lakes, beaches and even seas have been iced over by a Siberian freeze, creating some incredible sights, but also more tales of tragedy.
Thousands enjoyed a day out on the frozen Lake Pfaeffikersee, near Zurich, Switzerland, today, while ice anglers looked more like Eskimos as they braved the conditions on a Polish reservoir.
But in southern Kosovo, nine people were killed when an avalanche hit the village of Restelica, officials said on Sunday, adding to more than 500 killed in snow and bitter cold across the Continent in the past two weeks.
In Poland, the interior ministry said 20 people had died in the past 24 hours because of the freezing weather, bringing the toll there so far this year to at least 100.
A spokeswoman said the latest victims froze to death or were suffocated or killed by fires due to defective or improvised heaters.
The Kosovo avalanche enveloped about 15 houses on Saturday, but only two were occupied at the time.
One person was missing and a girl aged about six was found alive late on Saturday after residents and emergency services helped dig out the houses. She was taken to hospital.
‘The number of dead people now is nine and we believe there is still one missing person,’ said Ibrahim Shala, a spokesperson from the Kosovo Security Force (KSF).
Temperatures have plummeted in parts of Europe close to minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) in the coldest February snap the region has seen in decades. Meteorologists say it could last till the end of the month.
In Kosovo, three people died and two children were injured on Thursday when a gas can that a family was using for heating exploded.
Kosovo’s government ordered schools to remain closed for another week with more snow expected. Police said many inhabited areas were completely cut off.
In neighbouring Montenegro the government imposed a state of emergency late on Saturday after snow blocked roads and railways across most of the country. Three people have died so far.
More than 50 people have been stranded on a train in Montenegro’s north for more than two days as emergency crews struggle to rescue them.
In the mountain town of Zabljak in Montenegro’s north, snow was 2.3 metres deep, while authorities have banned all private traffic in the capital Podgorica, where snow is almost a metre (three feet) deep and more is forecast on Sunday.In Serbia, which declared a state of emergency last week, 19 people have died in the cold snap so far.
Economists said damage from the cold weather may cost the country more than 500 million euros ($660 million).
More than 2,000 industrial businesses have been idled to limit the strain on coal-fired power plants and hydropower plants, which were struggling because of the buildup of ice.
The government also ordered the closure of all schools and non-essential businesses until February 20.
Port authorities for Serbian sections of the Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers halted navigation due to a heavy buildup of ice.
For the first time in decades, parts of the Black Sea has frozen near its shores, while the Kerch Strait that links the Azov Sea and the Black Sea has been closed to navigation.
Some great photos at the link.
Australian Climate Madness 
I am not that old at 42 but I still remember thinking about what we would do in the next ice age when in primary and high school. That was the biggest real climate concern because we haven’t had one for so long. I am really looking forward to the “science” to prove that this hell of a winter in Europe is the result of the planet warming.
I was in Southern England,coastal Bristol Channel in the early 1960’s when the sea froze over and boats were stuck solid in sea ice.It’s happened before and will happen again.Thee was a mini ice age in the mid 1800’s and it runs on a cycle.This could be the beginning of that cycle.This planet has its own means of managing its climate which has not always suited mankind.It is typical of some pea brains who thin that they can actually change the forces at play in this massive and complex planet.AGM is one big SCAM to extract and redistribute revenue and maybe not only to the poor nations but also into the pockets of it’s proponents.Politicians and so called Scientists alike.
Hi Naomi – I am the same vintage and I remember having nightmares about glaciers looming over our high street…
Funny how pollies of our age seem to have no recollection whatsoever but they hand their brains in when they get voted in I’m sure. I’ll be first in line for a CT refund when the ice age hits!
1947 winter in UK was like something from the North Pole. People forget. Something like 25% of sheep were lost for example.
I really think all these GW [snip] should be round up and arrested and charged with fraud,then removed from their jobs.
these people are paid to do a job …not to make up crap in order to acquire funds and taxes for their own gain..
and lets not forget the world Gov agenda of the UN.
so sick of the GW lies…..especially from the Australian Government.
You people are so full of it, you guys are just nitpicking, this is obviously just a hickup and ….well it obviously doesn’t count….sheeesshhh. Dumb rightwinger, flat eathers.
In Search Of, hosted by Leonard Nemoy did an episode in 1978 entitled, The Coming Ice Age. It had a rather powerful effect on me, enough so that for a great many years thereafter, I always made sure I had at least two good winter coats. Agit-prop is always a good seller, and the AGW crowd has learned the lesson well. Here’s a link to part 1 of 3, if you’d care to be frightened all over again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ndHwW8psR8
Sorry to rain on your parade Simon but from the department of ‘I’m not real smart but I can lift heavy things’ comes this: “The current weather pattern fits earlier predictions of computer models for how the atmosphere responds to the loss of sea ice due to global warming.”
And of course there’s no ifs or buts about it … it’s completely confirmed science. So any weather anomaly, be it hot, cold or in-between, is a result of global warming!
As at 2:15pm 13 Feb 2012 the entry in the Live Blog Roll for Qaudrant ‘daft way to run a nation’ has wrong link. it should be
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/bennelong-papers/2012/02/waking-up-to-dreamtime-ebook
Though I don’t know how this gets included in the Roll as its to do with aboriginal disadvantage.
Just trying to be helpful.
Europe may be freezing at the moment … and just to prove the opposite is also true, this article ‘No Ice In Iceland’ says, “… But this year there was a mild winter. Iceland had no ice … Even the Langaness district, which touches the Arctic circle, is iceless.”
Which all goes to prove that what we’re seeing now, what we’ve seen in the past and what we’ll continue to see in the future is all part of the normal variants of our chaotic climate system.
Oh, by the way, the article was published in The Queenslander newspaper on Thursday 5 December 1929!
I wasn’t aware Tony Abbott had been in Europe recently.
Baldrick, sorry to rain on your parade but if you think that link to a story of un-named experts and ‘coulds’ and ‘earlier predictions of computer [climate] models’ represents no ifs and buts science then you are talking of a science I have no understanding of.
Climate models have failed to predict anything – Do Some Research.
Sea ice is not being lost – DSR.
Your closing sentence was worthy of much rebuttal but it occured to me that your whole comment was a joke, right?
Settle Bob … I was being sarcastic! 😉
A bit over 200 years ago people were dying in Europe in large numbers due crop failure. This was because of the cold of the LIA, some even died from ice falling off glaciers which also threatened villages in the way of them. Solutions then were to build religious building and statues in the path of the glacier. Perhaps these days climate models would do certainly no less futile. In geological terms 200 years is a insignificant of time we have no idea what will happen in next hundred or so. AGC, AGW, GC or GW? We just do not know.
The UK is having a thaw starting yesterday in the S.E. There is a useful website ,http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ which breaks down UK power generation by type.
There is now just over 4GM of wind power allegedly available on the National Grid. During the coldest weather, wind power fell to less than 0.2GW, or just enough to keep the windmills from freezing their bearings. We get our extremes of temperature when the blocking high is established and the wind stops blowing, yet the ecoloons in Government insist on continuing to build these useless ornaments of Green Power.
What this cold snap proves is that the climate models built by the alarmists to predict weather conditions and changes to the climate are totally useless – they’re as good as a dead parrot!
“This clearly has nothing to do with climate change” Well yes as referred to being caused by so called AGW. But if the winters are getting progressively colder in the EU as seems to be the case then it IS climate change. (natural).