An unusually snowy scene in Italy

By Madeline O'Connor

A total of 164 lives have been claimed so far during the cold snap, as countries from Ukraine to Italy experience record low temperatures

In eastern Europe, whole villages were cut off leaving thousands of people trapped, while road, air and rail links were also down.

Gas consumption has gone up dramatically during the severest winter in decades in some regions.

In Ukraine, tens of thousands were heading for shelters to flee the freeze that according to emergency services has killed 63 people - most through hypothermia.

In Poland, temperatures dropped as low as -32C in some parts, with nine more people dying. The country’s death toll, according to the police on Friday, now stands at 37.

In London the Met Office in London warned that the cold snap would continue in many areas, with more snow expected in Kiev overnight Friday, though the temperatures could rise off their recent lows.

Berlin would experience snow Friday with temperatures hitting -10C overnight, the Met Office forecast.

Snow was also forecast in many parts ofBritainover the weekend.

Russian gas giant Gazprom said, meanwhile, that it had boosted deliveries toEurope, while several European countries reported drops in Russian supplies, with operators in Austria and Slovakia bothreporting 30% falls.

In Romania, eight people died overnight, bringing the country's overall toll to 22, the health ministry said. Schools in some parts remained closed.

In Bulgaria, at least 10 people have died, according to media.

In Latvia, 10 people have died around the capital Rigaalone, with no figures available for the rest of the country.

In Estonia, organisers had to postpone a trio of cross-country skiing events after temperatures plunged to -30C.

In north and central Italy, hundreds were trapped on trains overnight as freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls caused ad transport chaos.

The cold has so far killed an infant in Sicily, a 76-year-old in Parma and a homeless man in Milan during what forecasters are calling the coldest winter in the country for 27 years.

In France, 41 of the 101 regions were on alert for snow or "deep cold". In Paris, the army set aside almost 600 places in military buildings to shelter the homeless.

Two people died in Austria, and seven inSerbia, where 11,500 others were trapped mostly in remote mountain villages not ccessible by road.

Five have died in the Czech Republic and two each in Slovakia and Greece.