The Arctic cold snap that has hit Europe for over a week had claimed nearly 300 lives by Sunday, brought air travel chaos to London and dumped snow as far south as Rome and even North Africa.
The grim winter toll rose in Ukraine, Poland, Italy and France, where two homeless people found frozen to death were the latest victims, with authorities across the continent reporting at least 297 fatalities.
London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest air hub by passenger traffic, cancelled a third of the day's flights, while much of Britain was blanketed in snow, leaving drivers stranded on roads overnight.
In Italy, which reported a seventh victim, snow-covered Rome was virtually paralyzed, thousands of people were trapped on trains, and the weather emergency sparked runs on supermarkets.
"I couldn't get hold of any food at the supermarket, people are stocking up like they did with bread in 1943," Rome resident Salvatore Merlo said on Twitter.
"Rome has the infrastructure of a third world country." In worst-hit Ukraine, another nine deaths raised the toll to 131 - most of them homeless people who perished on the streets - since the deep freeze started nine days ago, said the emergencies ministry.
Some 1,800 people had now been hospitalized, and 75,000 people had sought warmth and food in over 3,000 shelters.
