In Pics: Icy snowstorm sweeps Ukraine as people battle frozen roads, high winds

Frigid weather that paralysed a large swath of the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/snow-wallops-us-midwest-as-it-braces-for-extreme-cold-193757">United States this week and caused</a> at least 21 deaths began easing on Friday as an Arctic air mass pulled away, setting the stage for a warmer weekend in the midwest and the northeast.

Temperatures from southern <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/arctic-freeze-spreads-in-us-minnesota-upper-michigan-north-dakota-face-brutal-icy-conditions-194178">New England to the Upper Midwest </a>should reach the mid-40s to low 50s Fahrenheit through the weekend and Monday, forecasters said, after a record-breaking cold snap that stopped mail deliveries in some parts of the midwest and shuttered schools and businesses.

In Chicago, which experienced temperatures as low as minus 22F (minus 30 Celsius) earlier this week, temperatures of 19F (-7C) on Friday morning felt positively balmy as a measure of normalcy returned to the nation's third-largest city.

"It feels like summer," said Dolores Marek, 57, as she got off her commuter train in Chicago wearing a long parka coat as set out on the 1.5 mile-(2.4 km) walk to the local college where she works. "This is much better than it was."

Meteorologists linked the spell of brutal cold to the so-called polar vortex, a cap of icy air that usually swirls over the North Pole. Changing air currents caused it to slip down through Canada and into the US midwest this week.

Bryan Jackson, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the core of the vortex was pulling north into eastern Canada, though residual icy air was still pushing over to the US northeast.

Temperatures on Friday morning ranged from below zero Fahrenheit to the teens in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey. The Washington D.C. area, which had 20F (minus 7C) temperatures, was under a winter weather advisory until the afternoon as around one inch (2.5 cm) of snowfall accumulated during the morning.

"That cold air that was over the Great Lakes, over the midwest, has shifted off. Now the high pressure is over Pennsylvania and New York," Jackson said in a phone interview.

"As it moves east, it'll bring in air from the south and we do expect it to warm up over the weekend."

Rachel Liao, 29, a student at the New School in New York, said she wished classes had been cancelled due to the cold.

"I just want to stay inside," Liao, a New York native, said. "I'm not used to this."

Temperatures in the Upper Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, will reach well above zero F (minus 18C) on Friday, with highs making it into the teens and low 20s.

Even so, parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa were still experiencing temperatures in the negative single digits, Jackson said.

The lowest temperature recorded early Friday morning was minus 34F (minus 37C) in Stonington, Michigan, according to the National Weather Service.

By Saturday, highs will be in the 30s and even low 40s in the Midwest. The central Plains will be in the low 60s, nearly 20 to 25 degrees above normal, the weather service said.

More than 40 cold-temperature records were broken on Thursday, the coldest morning since the polar vortex moved in late on Tuesday. The mass of Arctic air had clung to a swath of the United States from Iowa and the Dakotas across the Great Lakes region and into Maine for days.

Officials across multiple states linked at least 20 deaths to the deep freeze. The death toll rose after at least nine more people in Chicago were reported to have died from cold-related injuries, according to Stathis Poulakidas, a doctor at the city's John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital.

Amtrak train services that had been halted since Wednesday in Chicago's hub resumed on Friday, as did US&nbsp;postal service that was halted or limited in six Midwest states.

Thousands of flights were cancelled and delayed earlier in the week, mostly out of Chicago, but on Friday the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported cancellations in the United States down to more than 400.

Frigid weather that paralysed a large swath of the United States this week and caused at least 21 deaths began easing on Friday as an Arctic air mass pulled away, setting the stage for a warmer weekend in the midwest and the northeast.

Frigid weather that paralysed a large swath of the United States this week and caused at least 21 deaths began easing on Friday as an Arctic air mass pulled away, setting the stage for a warmer weekend in the midwest and the northeast. Temperatures from southern New England to the Upper Midwest should reach the mid-40s to low 50s Fahrenheit through the weekend and Monday, forecasters said, after a record-breaking cold snap that stopped mail deliveries in some parts of the midwest and shuttered schools and businesses. In Chicago, which experienced temperatures as low as minus 22F (minus 30 Celsius) earlier this week, temperatures of 19F (-7C) on Friday morning felt positively balmy as a measure of normalcy returned to the nation's third-largest city. "It feels like summer," said Dolores Marek, 57, as she got off her commuter train in Chicago wearing a long parka coat as set out on the 1.5 mile-(2.4 km) walk to the local college where she works. "This is much better than it was." Meteorologists linked the spell of brutal cold to the so-called polar vortex, a cap of icy air that usually swirls over the North Pole. Changing air currents caused it to slip down through Canada and into the US midwest this week. Bryan Jackson, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the core of the vortex was pulling north into eastern Canada, though residual icy air was still pushing over to the US northeast. Temperatures on Friday morning ranged from below zero Fahrenheit to the teens in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Jersey. The Washington D.C. area, which had 20F (minus 7C) temperatures, was under a winter weather advisory until the afternoon as around one inch (2.5 cm) of snowfall accumulated during the morning. "That cold air that was over the Great Lakes, over the midwest, has shifted off. Now the high pressure is over Pennsylvania and New York," Jackson said in a phone interview. "As it moves east, it'll bring in air from the south and we do expect it to warm up over the weekend." Rachel Liao, 29, a student at the New School in New York, said she wished classes had been cancelled due to the cold. "I just want to stay inside," Liao, a New York native, said. "I'm not used to this." Temperatures in the Upper Midwest, including Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, will reach well above zero F (minus 18C) on Friday, with highs making it into the teens and low 20s. Even so, parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa were still experiencing temperatures in the negative single digits, Jackson said. The lowest temperature recorded early Friday morning was minus 34F (minus 37C) in Stonington, Michigan, according to the National Weather Service. By Saturday, highs will be in the 30s and even low 40s in the Midwest. The central Plains will be in the low 60s, nearly 20 to 25 degrees above normal, the weather service said. More than 40 cold-temperature records were broken on Thursday, the coldest morning since the polar vortex moved in late on Tuesday. The mass of Arctic air had clung to a swath of the United States from Iowa and the Dakotas across the Great Lakes region and into Maine for days. Officials across multiple states linked at least 20 deaths to the deep freeze. The death toll rose after at least nine more people in Chicago were reported to have died from cold-related injuries, according to Stathis Poulakidas, a doctor at the city's John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital. Amtrak train services that had been halted since Wednesday in Chicago's hub resumed on Friday, as did US postal service that was halted or limited in six Midwest states. Thousands of flights were cancelled and delayed earlier in the week, mostly out of Chicago, but on Friday the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported cancellations in the United States down to more than 400.

Icy blast begins to ease in US midwest and northeast

A wintry blast of freezing temperatures swept across Europe on Sunday, with a biting wind from Siberia claiming four lives and endangering the continent&#39;s homeless -- with the worst yet to come.

The &quot;Beast from the East&quot;, as the phenomenon has been dubbed by the British media, is expected to bring chilling winds from Russia over the next week that will make it feel even colder than thermometers indicate.

The cold snap has already been linked to several deaths, as well as postponing an Italian football match and causing traffic chaos.

In France, where temperatures were forecast to drop to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and feel as low as minus 18C over the coming days, fears ran high for people living on the streets.

A homeless man in the city of Valence in the country&#39;s southeast was found dead on Sunday, and another man was found dead in his cabin in the suburbs of Paris on Friday.&nbsp;

France has opened up extra emergency shelters for the homeless, and in Calais in northern France, about 200 migrants were spared the cold on Saturday night.

Over a year after the French government razed the sprawling Jungle camp, there are still hundreds of migrants around the port of Calais, hoping to stow away on trucks to Britain.

&quot;I&#39;m lucky to be in here where it&#39;s warm, outside it&#39;s impossible because of the cold,&quot; 20-year-old Afghan Shafiq said.

Siberian express

Britain&#39;s weather service, the Met Office, forecast that northern England would have 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow over the next three days, amid temperatures that could feel as cold as minus 15 Celsius.

It also warned of widespread travel disruption, saying: &quot;Snow showers, already affecting eastern parts of England early on Monday, are expected to become more persistent and more widespread through Monday afternoon and evening.&quot;

The front page of the Daily Express newspaper on Friday warned: &quot;Wrap up warm! Freezing cold &#39;Siberian Express&#39; is roaring towards Britain.&quot;

Russia itself was not spared, with its meteorological service warning of &quot;abnormally cold&quot; temperatures until Wednesday and temperatures in the Moscow region expected to fall to minus 24 Celsius on Sunday night, and minus 35 Celsius in the centre of the country.

Two people died of the cold in Poland on Friday night, bringing the winter&#39;s toll to 46 since November, according to the centre for national security.

Frigid temperatures are also forecast throughout Germany, with a low of minus 22 Celsius in some Alpine valleys in the southern state of Bavaria on Monday.

Football game postponed

Heavy snow in the north Italian city of Turin caused a Serie A football game between Juventus and Atalanta to be postponed on Sunday.

Schools will be closed on Monday due to the snow in Rome, with minus 6 C forecast on Sunday night, and authorities advised drivers to avoid trips in potentially risky mountainous regions due to snow and ice.

In Austria, temperatures will drop below minus 20 C on Sunday night and feel even colder.

&quot;It will feel like minus 30,&quot; Stefan Kiesenhofer of the Austrian meteorological service ZAMG told the Oesterreich newspaper.&nbsp;

A cold snap like this &quot;comes every seven to 10 years,&quot; he said.

Hungary has been on alert since Saturday, while heavy snow closed some schools in Croatia on Saturday.

Schools were also closed in Romania&#39;s capital Bucharest, as well as three areas in the country&#39;s south, with more snowfall expected amid lows of minus 15 C to minus 20 C.&nbsp;

Pregnant women and dialysis patients in several parts of the country were encouraged to go to hospital to avoid being stranded at home in case of an emergency.

Spain&#39;s weather agency warned of &quot;significant snowfall&quot; on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.

Warmer at the North Pole?&nbsp;

However a brave few did take advantage of the Siberian chill, with some adventurous Dutch ice skaters taking to the country&#39;s canals and lakes.&nbsp;

Dutch authorities have strongly discouraged skating on natural bodies of water, but said conditions may be more favourable after a few chilly days in the north of the country for those keen to emulate their Winter Olympians.

The freezing temperature also did not prevent a few hundred swimmers jumping into the Meuse river, which was 3 Celsius while it was minus 2 Celsius outside, in the Huy region of Belgium on Sunday morning.&nbsp;

But below average temperatures are not forecast everywhere.

Many areas across Europe could be colder than the North Pole this week, with the temperature at Cape Morris Jesup weather station at the top of Greenland having risen above freezing several times since mid-February, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

The cold snap has already been linked to several deaths, as well as postponing an Italian football match and causing traffic chaos

A wintry blast of freezing temperatures swept across Europe on Sunday, with a biting wind from Siberia claiming four lives and endangering the continent's homeless -- with the worst yet to come. The "Beast from the East", as the phenomenon has been dubbed by the British media, is expected to bring chilling winds from Russia over the next week that will make it feel even colder than thermometers indicate. The cold snap has already been linked to several deaths, as well as postponing an Italian football match and causing traffic chaos. In France, where temperatures were forecast to drop to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and feel as low as minus 18C over the coming days, fears ran high for people living on the streets. A homeless man in the city of Valence in the country's southeast was found dead on Sunday, and another man was found dead in his cabin in the suburbs of Paris on Friday. France has opened up extra emergency shelters for the homeless, and in Calais in northern France, about 200 migrants were spared the cold on Saturday night. Over a year after the French government razed the sprawling Jungle camp, there are still hundreds of migrants around the port of Calais, hoping to stow away on trucks to Britain. "I'm lucky to be in here where it's warm, outside it's impossible because of the cold," 20-year-old Afghan Shafiq said. Siberian express Britain's weather service, the Met Office, forecast that northern England would have 10 centimetres (four inches) of snow over the next three days, amid temperatures that could feel as cold as minus 15 Celsius. It also warned of widespread travel disruption, saying: "Snow showers, already affecting eastern parts of England early on Monday, are expected to become more persistent and more widespread through Monday afternoon and evening." The front page of the Daily Express newspaper on Friday warned: "Wrap up warm! Freezing cold 'Siberian Express' is roaring towards Britain." Russia itself was not spared, with its meteorological service warning of "abnormally cold" temperatures until Wednesday and temperatures in the Moscow region expected to fall to minus 24 Celsius on Sunday night, and minus 35 Celsius in the centre of the country. Two people died of the cold in Poland on Friday night, bringing the winter's toll to 46 since November, according to the centre for national security. Frigid temperatures are also forecast throughout Germany, with a low of minus 22 Celsius in some Alpine valleys in the southern state of Bavaria on Monday. Football game postponed Heavy snow in the north Italian city of Turin caused a Serie A football game between Juventus and Atalanta to be postponed on Sunday. Schools will be closed on Monday due to the snow in Rome, with minus 6 C forecast on Sunday night, and authorities advised drivers to avoid trips in potentially risky mountainous regions due to snow and ice. In Austria, temperatures will drop below minus 20 C on Sunday night and feel even colder. "It will feel like minus 30," Stefan Kiesenhofer of the Austrian meteorological service ZAMG told the Oesterreich newspaper. A cold snap like this "comes every seven to 10 years," he said. Hungary has been on alert since Saturday, while heavy snow closed some schools in Croatia on Saturday. Schools were also closed in Romania's capital Bucharest, as well as three areas in the country's south, with more snowfall expected amid lows of minus 15 C to minus 20 C. Pregnant women and dialysis patients in several parts of the country were encouraged to go to hospital to avoid being stranded at home in case of an emergency. Spain's weather agency warned of "significant snowfall" on the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. Warmer at the North Pole? However a brave few did take advantage of the Siberian chill, with some adventurous Dutch ice skaters taking to the country's canals and lakes. Dutch authorities have strongly discouraged skating on natural bodies of water, but said conditions may be more favourable after a few chilly days in the north of the country for those keen to emulate their Winter Olympians. The freezing temperature also did not prevent a few hundred swimmers jumping into the Meuse river, which was 3 Celsius while it was minus 2 Celsius outside, in the Huy region of Belgium on Sunday morning. But below average temperatures are not forecast everywhere. Many areas across Europe could be colder than the North Pole this week, with the temperature at Cape Morris Jesup weather station at the top of Greenland having risen above freezing several times since mid-February, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

Icy blast from Siberia sweeps across Europe

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In Pics: Icy snowstorm sweeps Ukraine as people battle frozen roads, high winds

Icy blast begins to ease in US midwest and northeast

Icy blast from Siberia sweeps across Europe