LONDON — It was so cold in some parts of the world this past week that iguanas were falling from trees, sharks were dying and eyelashes were freezing in the shadow of a mountain where the wind chill could make the air feel as cold as minus 100 Fahrenheit.

The world became familiar with the phrase “bomb cyclone” — also known as a winter hurricane.

Amid the face-freezing misery, one phenomenon that is a staple of winter has drawn greater attention in an era of prolific social media use: the frozen pond rescue. Twitter and Facebook users shared video footage of the heroes of winter who dived into icy waters to save men, women and animals.

The rescues unfolded as winter’s icy grip unleashed a storm named Eleanor that barreled across Europe, setting off a deadly avalanche in the Austrian Alps, where two German skiers were killed on Friday near Kals in Tyrol State, according to Bild. Twenty skiers also had to be rescued from cable cars in Kitzbühel, Austria.

The storm whipped up dangerous winds in Britain, where it knocked out power to thousands. The gusts blew a train car off its tracks in Sweden, injuring eight people.