The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally down 1.14 percent, with almost all sectors and every major bourse in the red.

Retail was down the most, off by 2.7 percent, after British online fashion retailer Asos issued a profit warning. The firm cut its annual sales growth and profit margin forecasts, becoming the latest U.K. retailer to highlight very poor November trading.

U.K. retail stocks made heavy losses, with Asos down 37.55 percent, Next down 4.63 percent, Marks & Spencer down 4.94 percent and Boohoo shares down 13.74 percent.

Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Zalando slumped to the bottom of the Stoxx 600, pressured by the broader downturn in retail stocks. H&M also fell, despite reporting that sales growth in the September-November period rose 6 percent from the previous year. Zalando dipped 11.63 percent while H&M slipped 8.53 percent.

On Wall Street, stocks sunk deeper into correction territory, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 100 points, the S&P 500 off by 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq Composite trading around the flatline.