Slideshow - France under ice as cold causes more chaos

More than half of France was on high alert for snow and ice on Sunday, as the death toll from cold across Europe went over 600. It looked pretty, though, as our slideshow of France's week under ice shows.

Tony Cross

Although most of the victims were in eastern Europe, two more deaths were reported in France Friday, bringing the total to 14.

A couple in their 60s were found dead at the side of a pond on Friday. The man appeared to have fallen into the water while they were boating and the woman had dived him and dragged him to land. But they both died of hypothermia before the emergency services found them.

Other weather news included:

• The north of the Mediterranean island of Corsica was the worst hit Saturday, with all flights to Bastia cancelled and 600 households without electricity because of the surge in demand.
• Snow and ice disrupted traffic in mainland France, especially in the southern regions of the Var, Corrèze and Dordogne.
• Frozen pipes deprived households of water across the country. A municipal campsite, which was closed for the winter, was opened in the Ardèche town of Annonay so that residents could use the showers.
• Although demand for electricity remains high, the power supply company does not expect a repeat of this Wednesday’s record consumption of 101.700 megawatts.