Deadly cold, heavy snow grip Europe

Bulgarians were also cold and angry, reviving memories of the communist-era power shortages. The country relies on Russian gas for almost all its heating.

"The radiators are barely warm at all, there's no hot water. I'm having to warm up water in a pan to bathe the baby," said Martina Tocheva as she pushed a stroller through a snow-covered park in the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

"We are living in the 21st century, aren't we?"

Other residents were putting on a brave face.

"Let's look on the bright side: Heating and electricity rationing will bring families into the same room and unite them around the single candle. We might even see a rise in the birthrate," joked one blogger.
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The cold weather has also allowed the Dutch to participate in a national skating marathon for the first time since 1996 on the Oostervaardseplassen tidal area, near Amsterdam, but penguins in a zoo were moved indoors.

Officials at Burger's Zoo in Arnhem said the blackfoot penguins come from South Africa and are not used to such low temperatures.