At least 24 people have died in an Arctic blast dubbed the 'beast from the east' hammering Europe.
The icy blast has already caused rail and flight cancellations, carnage on the roads and closures of more than 500 British schools.
"To be honest this is the worst winter we've had for quite a while," said one woman in the UK.
On England's southwest coast, even the sea froze.
The UK is experiencing what's believed to be the coldest week this winter. It's even snowing in London, which our Europe correspondent Joy Reid says is a bit of a rarity.
But she says it's expected the weather is only going to get worse, a major concern for those trying to keep the roads open and safe.
Four people died on treacherous stretches of road today alone, and there are fears the storm's toll will grow, the bitter cold especially dangerous.
"I've nowhere to live, nowhere to go. So it's all about survival," a homeless man said.
This beast has hailed from the east. It has dumped snowflakes in sunny Spain, rare flurries on Italy's beaches and record snowfall in western Croatia.
"Nothing like this in living memory," a man in Croatia said.
The icy blast has killed two dozen people across Europe, five of them in Poland, with police urging residents to help the vulnerable - or the drunk - who've fallen in the snow.
The big freeze was triggered by an intense heatwave in the Arctic, as much as 35 degrees above the average, which is essentially pushing sub-zero air across Europe.
While it has been seen before, it's happening more often, and the intensity of this event is shocking experts.
But Joy Reid says it's the chill still to come that's likely to shock Britain the most.
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