In normally balmy southern France, beaches in Nice were blanketed in a thick layer of snow.In Romania, people were marking the day without the amulets they traditionally exchange.In Germany, the national homeless association urged shelters to open during the day and not just at night.Paris: Heavy snowfall and deadly blizzards lashed Europe on Thursday, forcing airports to cancel or delay flights around the continent, as a deep freeze gripped countries from the far north to the Mediterranean beaches in the south.The unusually cold weather has also impacted local customs, as the first spring month began."The 1st of March is the most important day of the year for us, where we sell the most flowers," florists association president Adrian Dinca told AFP.In Paris, which awoke on Thursday under a blanket of snow, authorities continued operating emergency shelters for the citys roughly 3,000 homeless.

The death toll Europe-wide continued to climb to more than 50, as another three people perished in Poland, taking the number of victims there to 21, most of them rough sleepers.In the capital Bucharest, where it has been snowing since Monday with temperatures hovering around minus 10 degrees Celsius, sales of the "martisor" good luck charms have plummeted along with the temperatureFlorists have also suffered, as the amulet is often given with a bunch of flowers.Demanding more efforts to keep people off the streets, around 30 local officials spent the night near the citys Gare dAusterlitz train station as temperatures dipped below zero."We cant keep considering the homeless just another part of the scenery," Greens lawmaker Ali Id Elouali said.A 74-year-old man who fell through the ice on a pond near Bruges remained in hospital in critical condition on Thursday, a Belgian TV channel reported.Authorities are also urging people to look out for elderly relatives and neighbours after a French woman in her nineties was found frozen to death outside her retirement home.Europes cold snap comes as the Arctic experiences record-high temperatures, prompting scientists to ask if global warming may be playing a role in turning things upside down.Near the city of Montpellier, around 2,000 drivers were stranded on a motorway, causing anger from those sitting behind the wheel for hours on end."You can die of cold during the day too," its chief Werena Rosenke warned.Some people enjoyed the cold, with families taking children and pets out to play.Snowfall in northern Italy forced the cancellation of 50 per cent of regional trains, while in the city of Naples, schools were shut.Several flights to Malaga in southern Spain were diverted because of strong winds."

The motorway looks like a cemetery of trucks and cars," tweeted Anthony Jammot, describing an "apocalyptic" 24 hours in his car with two young children and no information or help from local authorities.But many who took out their ice skates discovered the waters were not frozen enough."Those most at risk of cold-related illness include elderly people, children, and people who have chronic diseases or physical or mental limitations," the World Health Organization said in a statement, adding that the poor, the homeless and migrants were often hardest hit.The Siberian cold front — dubbed the "Beast from the East" in Britain, "Siberian bear" by the Dutch and the "snow cannon" by Swedes — on Thursday forced Geneva airport to close for several hours in the morning, with temperatures plunging in Switzerland to nearly minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 38 Fahrenheit) at higher altitudes..There have also been six deaths in the Czech Republic in recent days, five in Lithuania, four each in France and Slovakia, three in Spain, two each in Italy, Serbia, Romania and Slovenia, and one each in Britain and the Netherlands.

The mercury also dropped below freezing across southern Europe.Snow also forced the cancellation of China CNC spring coiling machine Manufacturers all flight operations at Dublin airport with services not expected to resume until Saturday at the earliest.The snowstorms, unusual for much of Europe at this time of year, left roads blocked, thousands of drivers stranded and schools shut, with weather agencies predicting the biting cold would continue in parts of the region at least through Thursday evening.One of the Spanish victims was a 39-year-old homeless man who had been sleeping in an abandoned truck.