A man walks through snow covered banks of the Danube river in Zemun near Belgrade on February 12, 2012. Cold weather claimed seven more lives on Sunday in the Balkans -- two in Albania, one in Serbia and Bosnia respectively, while three more victims of an avalanche that buried several houses in a southern Kosovo village were found.
Editor's note: iReport: How is winter weather affecting you? Send us your photos and video of ice, snow, storms and sleet.
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Even bundled up in a purple jacket and light blue turtleneck sweater, warming herself in a thick canvas emergency tent heated by a stove, the young Ukrainian woman feels the bitter chill.
"It is very cold," she said. "The frost is very strong. It's very slippery out there."
But she is one of the lucky ones, taking refuge from the brutal winter pummeling eastern Europe in a temporary shelter put up by the Ukrainian government.
"Here it's warm and there's food and drink," she said.
"It's very important, especially for people like us in this unfortunate situation," said another man taking refuge in the shelter.
At least 250 people have died across the region during the cold snap, with 135 of them in Ukraine.
Authorities there have set up an emergency hospital to deal with people suffering from cold-related conditions, and distributed 3,000 emergency relief tents across the country, they said. The tents are heated, and people with nowhere else to go can get hot food and drinks.
Kiev has more than 14,000 homeless people, authorities said. They are among the most vulnerable to winter.
Bitter cold temperatures grip Ukraine
Ukraine offers shelter from deadly cold
Europe's deadly deep freeze
Winter whacks Europe
About 2,000 people have been hospitalized because of the cold since January 27, officials said.
Electricity consumption in the country is at historic highs, Ukrainian energy minister Yuri Boyko said.
In Bosnia, two men on snowmobiles finally reached the isolated village of Zijemlja, according to state news agency FENA. It had been cut off for five days. Residents in some parts of the country were warned of the potential for avalanches.
There was some good news, according to FENA. Inhabitants of the Sarajevo Zoo were in winter quarters and had sufficient food.
More than 50 people, most of them homeless, have died in Poland in the past several weeks, according to Polish TVN. At least 64 people have died because of the cold in Russia, the government said.
Snow has also fallen as far west as Spain and snarled traffic in Brussels, Belgium. Snowfall in Europe's southeast, close to the Mediterranean Sea, is cutting off roads and isolating areas from access to supplies.
Southeastern Europe will see more heavy snow in contrast to the northeast, which is predicted to shiver under temperatures much lower than its winter averages, meteorologists said.
Cold air arriving from Siberia has been hitting maritime moisture from the Mediterranean Sea, turning it into frozen precipitation. This will continue, and Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia are expected to receive new layers of snow.
The bitter cold temperatures in the northeast have been deadlier than the snow farther south, with many people dying from hypothermia.
Is the cold snap affecting you?
In Romania, where at least 39 people have died because of the cold snap, all "national roads," or two-lane highways, in seven counties in the country's south and east were completely blocked, state news agency Agerpres reported Monday. Traffic was in chaos in the capital Bucharest and possible blizzards have been forecast for half the country in the coming days.
In Italy, a Milan court delayed the trial of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on charges of bribery Monday because of cold temperatures in the courtroom, according to the Italian ANSA news agency. It was moved to warmer chambers, which had often been the scene of another case involving Berlusconi, when he had been accused of paying for sex with a minor -- a Moroccan girl known as "Ruby."
The severe cold is forecast to continue all week, meteorologists said.
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A picture taken on February 11, 2012 shows the frozen Damse Vaart in Damme. For the 13th consecutive day, temperatures in Belgium were below zero degrees Celsius. This is the longest cold wave for Belgium since 1941.
Mist rises from the partially frozen Great Ouse river on February 11, 2012 in Huntingdon, England. The Met Office recorded the coldest temperature so far this winter with -16C registered in Holbeach, Lincolnshire.
People walk on the frozen Aussenalster river during the 'Alstervergnuegen' on February 11, 2012 in Hamburg, Germany. The very popular annual city festival 'Alstervergnuegen' takes place around the Alster lake in Hamburg.
People walk on the frozen lake Zwischenahner Meer in Bad Zwischenahn, near Oldenburg, northern Germany, where blocks of ice have been cut out.
The castle and the old bridge are seen over the frozen river Neckar in Heidelberg, southwestern Germany, on February 12, 2012. Temperatures remain cold in Germany as the death toll from Europe's big freeze rose past 550.
Lighthouse and lampposts are covered with heavy ice in central Adriatic Croatian port of Senj, some 200 kilometres from Zagreb, as the sun sets on February 8, 2012. There are more than 100 villages still trapped by snow in remote, mountain parts in Croatia.
Bobsleigh riders walk at a small hill in the Olympic park in Munich, southern Germany, on February 7, 2012.
A man walks past concrete steles of the Monument for the Murdered Jews of Europe after fresh snowfall on February 9, 2012 in Berlin.
A woman sporting a fur hat walks in the center of Ukrainian capital of Kiev on February 9, 2012. Helicopters ferried food and medicine to iced-in villagers Wednesday as the cold snap tightened its frigid grip on the continent.
A man walks with his dogs next to Queen's Mere pond in the snow on Wimbledon common on February 10, 2012 in London, England. The Met Office cold weather alert remains at Level 3 as southern parts of England continue to suffer from cold weather and freezing conditions, with further snowfall overnight.
People skate on a frozen pond in Prague on February 6, 2012. Meteorologists this morning measured minus 39.4 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature of this winter, in Kvilda village, in the South Bohemian Sumava mountains.
A picture taken on February 6, 2012 shows horses in a field covered with snow in the Corsican village of Cognocoli-Monticchi. In France, 39 of the country's 101 regions were on alert for deep cold or snow, down from more than half the regions at the weekend.
A monument is covered with snow in Kiev on February, 6, 2012 after heavy snowfalls in Ukraine. Ukraine on Monday blamed alcohol abuse as the main cause of deaths caused by a spell of abnormally cold weather that has claimed at least 135 lives over the last 10 days.
A man walks under an umbrella during a snowfall in downtown Skopje on February 6, 2012.
A man takes pictures of a Bartholdi fountain covered by ice on February 6, 2012 on Terraux square in Lyon, eastern France. In France, 39 of the country's 101 regions were on alert for deep cold or snow, down from more than half the regions at the weekend.
A dog plays in the icy Elbe River on Monday, February 6, in Hamburg, Germany. The Arctic cold snap in Europe has claimed nearly 300 lives, brought air travel chaos to London, and dumped snow as far south as Rome and even North Africa.
People walk through a park in Burgos as snow hits northern Spain on Sunday.
A man snowboards Sunday in Caen, France. Seventy-five French departments were under medium range (orange) alert for snow and ice Monday.
A frozen fountain stands in front of Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday. Heavy snow fell overnight across southeast England, causing many roads to become blocked.
iReporter Fabrizio Buzzi sent this shot taken in central Rome on Saturday. "People go out to enjoy the experience as snow is a rare sight in Rome," says Buzzi.
iReporter John Pe shot this photo of the streets of Rome blanketed by heavy snowfall. He said local residents have "gotten their snow gear and have taken to the slopes!"
Snow paralyzes traffic in Bucharest, Romania, on Monday.
Ice accumulates in the Trocadero fountain in Paris, as France faces low temperatures.
A man walks past an ice-covered car Sunday on the frozen waterside promenade at Lake Geneva in Versoix, Switzerland.
Two girls sled down the hill Sunday in London's Alexandra Park.
People stand in snow Saturday in front of the Colosseum in Rome.
A man puts snowchains on his car Saturday in Rome. Heavy snowfall caused the Italian capital to grind to a halt.
A boy and his mother skate on the partly frozen Elbe River on Thursday as the skyline of Dresden, Germany, is silhouetted in the background.
A man pets a dog next to frozen sea waters in Constanta, Romania, on Wednesday. Temperatures plunged to -34 degrees Celsius (-29 degrees Fahrenheit) in central Romania.
People walk on an ice-covered dam next to frozen Black Sea waters near Bucharest on Wednesday.
A man is seen through an icy window Wednesday on a tram in Sofia, Bulgaria.
In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, temperatures dropped to -22 degrees Celsius (-8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday. The cold temperatures were blamed for at least 31 deaths in the country.
A skier takes advantage of the unusual snowfall in Istanbul, Turkey, on Tuesday. The snow paralyzed daily life there.
An ice fisherman waits for a catch on a frozen lake near Sofia on January 30.
Animal lovers helped remove the snow that covered the "second chance" dog shelter outside Glina, Romania on January 28.
Bulgarian women walk through heavy snow January 28 in Rakovski.
A man clears snow off a vehicle in Sofia on January 27.
Freshly plowed snow frames a road in Bucharest on January 27.
A dog takes shelter from a blizzard in Catelu, Romania, on January 26.
Pedal-boats and canoes sit in frozen water in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 26.
iReporter Cosmin Stan sent in this photo from Bucharest on January 26. "The problem was not the quantity of the snow, but the strong winds," he told CNN.
Skiers make their way through the snow near Oberhof, Germany, on January 25.
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