Frigid Air Mass, Snow Hit Europe; 5 Dead in France

Snow fell Sunday in places where it is usually only read about as most of Europe shivered under a Siberian air mass. Five people died of exposure in France.

The beaches of the French Riviera were cloaked in eight inches of snow, and snow fell in Rome for the first time in 14 years, forcing buses to use tire chains. At the Trevi Fountain, one of Rome’s biggest tourist attractions, both Romans and tourists alike were pitching snowballs into the fountain instead of the traditional coins.

Three of those who died in France were homeless people, local officials said. In Carcassonne, in the southwest, firemen had to use hatchets to free swans trapped by ice in the pools of public gardens.

Finland recorded its lowest temperature of the century--minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit in areas near the Arctic Circle--and icy winds from the north swept all the way to the Mediterranean.

Police in Britain called weather conditions the worst in a decade. Two inches of snow fell on London, planes were diverted to airports farther west and blizzards hit the north of the country.

A British ferry, the Speedlink Vanguard, with 29 passengers aboard, was reported in trouble off the east coast of England, unable to drop its anchors because of the weather.

Parts of Switzerland experienced their coldest weather in 20 years, and nine people were seriously injured in a 27-car pileup.

Murmansk port in northern Russia came to a standstill as temperatures dropped to minus 39, the lowest ever recorded there in January, Tass news agency said.