LONDON: Europe was blasted by more snow on Friday as Britain endured its coldest night of the winter and fears for energy supplies intensified.
Britain, in the grip of its worst winter in decades, saw overnight temperatures plunge to minus 22 degrees Celsius at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands.
Manchester in northwest England and the Brecon Beacons mountains in Wales hit minus 16 degrees, while Glasgow recorded minus eight.
“Temperatures will struggle to rise above freezing across most of the country by day, with severe and penetrating frosts at night,” said chief forecaster Richard Young at the Met Office national weather service. The conditions sparked concern for energy supplies in Britain, as gas was cut off on Thursday to almost 100 major firms in a bid to avert a crisis.
“We’ve got plenty of supplies, the gas storage is about 70 percent full,” Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told GMTV television in a bid to reassure the public.
With supplies from the North Sea supplemented by imports, “there’s absolutely no need for any domestic customers to worry at all,” he insisted.
Air travelers in Europe waited anxiously to see if flights would depart.
Pan-European low-cost airline easyJet canceled 32 flights, largely to and from Britain’s London Gatwick and Liverpool airports.
Flights between Belfast and London Stansted and Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino were also scrapped.
London Heathrow, the world’s busiest international passenger airport, said it was open but warned travelers to check with their airline.
“Our airfield team has worked round the clock to keep both runways clear but the threat of further snow and ice remains,” it said.
The beleaguered Eurostar train service linking Britain with France and Belgium faced further disruption after a train got stuck on Thursday in the undersea Channel Tunnel.
“Because of the current severe weather conditions Eurostar will continue to run a restricted service up to and including Sunday,” the rail operator said.
In Norway, temperatures hit minus 42 degrees Celsius in the central village of Folldal.
The plunging temperatures forced a rise in electricity demand, sending prices up too.
Germany, already gripped by freezing temperatures, braced for up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) of fresh snow later Friday, accompanied by gale force winds.
Meanwhile, National Grid lifted pressure on Britain’s industries to stop using gas on Friday after domestic use eased as temperatures rose from icy levels, the energy network operator said.
“The weather is getting slightly warmer, which does have an effect on demand for heating, so we don’t have to invoke the interruptible contracts to so many businesses,” a National Grid spokeswoman said.
Industrial users on interruptible contracts — cheaper gas in exchange for agreeing to reduce consumption at high demand times — were asked to switch to alternative fuels on Thursday after domestic heating demand soared on freezing weather.