Extreme cold and heavy snow buried parts of Europe over the past few days, claiming the lives of hundreds of people, straining utilities in France, snarling transportation in Britain and leaving people in cities like Rome stymied.

Eastern Europe was particularly hard hit. Ukraine’s Ministry of Emergencies reported that at least 131 people had died during a cold snap that has lasted more than a week in which night temperatures have dropped well below freezing. Hundreds have been treated for hypothermia or frostbite.

Many of the victims in Eastern Europe were homeless people. In Poland, the PAP news agency reported that Prime Minister Donald Tusk had asked local authorities to waive the ban on admitting inebriated people to homeless shelters after eight more people died, bringing the death toll from the storm to 53 in Poland.

The Bosnian government used helicopters to carry food and supplies to remote villages buried under six feet of snow. More than 10,000 people are trapped, Reuters reported. Rescuers saved dozens of people trapped in their cars from avalanches in eastern Bosnia. “There were 15, 20 cars trapped in snow for 20 hours,” one rescue worker, Darko Rojic, told Reuters. “We barely managed to pull the people out and we are now flying them home with helicopters.”