The cold wave that froze the Nordic countries in recent days is hitting central and eastern Europe today, causing power outages and travel problems in Poland, among other things.

Poland’s meteorological service, which is already reporting very low temperatures of -23 degrees Celsius in the north-east of the country, has issued a cold alert for most of its territory, where the mercury is expected to record a further plunge this week.

In the northeastern part, 2,200 households are currently in the dark, while transportation for the transportation of students to and from schools was suspended.

“There are problems due to the cold,” local administration spokesman Krzysztof Guzek told Polish news agency PAP.

In Latvia, in its northeastern part, thermometers showed -29.5 degrees Celsius today in Daugavpils, the country’s second largest city.

Further south, in Hungary, the country’s meteorological service warned of temperatures of -12C at the end of the week, accompanied by winds of up to 90km/h.

Wind gusts of up to 100km/h wreaked havoc in some parts of the country over the weekend, uprooting trees and tearing off roofs, blocking roads and causing power outages.

Flight problems

In Moldova, about 22,000 households do not have electricity today and the frost caused flight cancellations and delays at Kinisau airport, in the country’s capital.

Public transport services were suspended in the city, where schools will also remain closed until Thursday.

In Romania, snowfalls have resulted to change the course of two flights to the airport of Iasiat a time when national roads were closed in the east of the country.

In Germany, at the same time, the meteorological services warn that the mercury will drop in some areas to -15 degrees Celsius at night, stressing, however, that at this stage it is not something “unusual” for the month of January.

“What was unusual was the heat in early January,” a spokesman, Andreas Walter, told Agence France-Presse, noting that Frankfurt recorded a temperature of more than 17 degrees Celsius.

“The month of January was actually very warm between 2018 and 2023, compared to the reference period 1961-90,” he added.