THE DEATHS OF eight people in Italy and ten in Poland have been blamed on bitterly cold weather that has swept over Europe.

In Milan, a man died in the basement of a disused building while another was found near Florence’s Arno River.

People walk by a snow covered statue of French diplomat Jean Monnet, one of the founders of the European Union, in Bucharest, Romania. Source: Vadim Ghirda

In Poland, 10 people have died in the cold snap, bringing the toll of hypothermia deaths in the country to 65 since November.

Temperatures have plunged to below minus 20 degrees Celsius in some regions.

Source: Severe Weather Europe via Facebook

Yesterday was the deadliest day in Poland this winter for cold-related deaths.

“Yesterday, 10 people died of cold,” the centre for national security (RCB) said in a statement, adding that “the number of hypothermia victims has reached 65,” since November 1. Police have asked people to aid those risking hypothermia, especially the homeless. The last winter in Poland was unusually mild but claimed 77 lives in the nation of 38 million, compared to 78 in 2013-2014 and 177 in 2012-2013.

People walk through the Olympic Park after heavy snow falls in Munich. Source: Matthias Schrader/AP

A cold wave across Europe has left at least 33 dead since the weekend, many of them migrants or homeless people.

Heavy snowstorms also reached Turkey, paralysing its biggest city Istanbul where almost 25 inches of snow fell, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled on Saturday.

(C) AFP 2017