Hottest year ever update: Moscow now so hot that only six people froze to death there over the past week

Early Freeze Halts Planes, Trains, Automobiles in Europe

Russian news agency Itar-Tass reports that temperatures in Moscow -- where six people have frozen to death over the past week -- today hit an almost record low of minus 10.5 degrees F. That's the chilliest the city's been since Dec. 1, 1931, when the mercury dropped to 11.4 below zero. And in Poland, at least eight homeless people died on Tuesday after temperatures plunged to minus 4 degrees F. Police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski told The Associated Press that the men froze to death in different parts of the country and had all been drinking alcohol. He appealed to Poles to contact police if they come across other homeless people outdoors.

In Germany, icy roads are believed to have caused at least 2,000 accidents Tuesday, killing at least three people.