Ferocious Winter Weather Takes Deadly Toll Across Europe

(NewsCore) - BISER, Bulgaria -- It was so waterlogged in Bulgaria Monday that a dam broke and submerged an entire village under eight feet (2.5 meters) of freezing water. Switzerland recorded year- low temperatures that dropped to -35.1 Celsius (-31 Farenheit) and historic electricity consumption was predicted for France as residents there battled the deep cold.

As the freezing temperatures, heavy rains and snow encased the European continent, only some residents of the Netherlands, suffering its coldest spell in 15 years, appeared enthused by the ferocious winter weather.

There, residents were reported sharpening their skates in hopes that a legendary long-distance race on frozen canals could be held for the first time in 15 years, although the ice was still deemed too thin.

But elsewhere the weather spelled disaster, with the death toll edging past 360, according to AFP.

In Bulgaria, rivers swollen with snow and torrential icy rains smashed through a dam in the southeastern village of Biser, drowning four elderly people in their homes. Another four died when their cars were swept from bridges into the raging waters.

"People are in panic," regional mayor Mihail Liskov said on national radio, according to AFP. "Ninety percent of the village is under water."

In Poland, where temperatures fell to -24C (-11 Fahrenheit) in northeastern parts of the country, nine people died in the past 24 hours, Sky News reported.

Monika Golebiewska, a Warsaw police officer, told AFP, "New (fatal) cases are reported to us daily. Just today we got calls telling us about two new ones, one of someone who was living in a tent and another of someone in an abandoned train station."

In Italy, authorities continued to clean up after a rare snowstorm blanketed Rome over the weekend and electrical crews struggled to restore power to some 60,000 homes in the Tuscan region.

The canals of Venice were reported frozen over, as were parts of the Black Sea.

After canceling half its flights Sunday, operators of London's Heathrow Airport, the world's busiest passenger hub, said its schedule was almost back to normal.

In France, 39 of the country's 101 regions were on alert for deep cold as a new record for electricity consumption was predicted.

In the Dalmatian region of Croatia, where more than 100 villages have been cut off by snow, Sky News reported a woman gave birth at home with the help of a neighbor while a midwife from a nearby town offered instructions over the phone.

"The baby girl is fine and beautiful and I'll probably name her Snow White, given the circumstances," Sky reported the mother said later.