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.
London (CNN) -- Europe remained gripped by frigid temperatures and snow Friday, with the icy weather closing much of the Danube River to shipping and disrupting travel across the region.
Central and Eastern Europe have borne the brunt of the unseasonably bitter weather, which has led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of cases of frostbite and hypothermia.
Twenty-two countries have posted warnings for extreme cold temperatures and accumulating snow, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.
The big freeze is not likely to end any time soon, Miller said, with the Arctic air forecast to continue spilling deep into Europe, keeping temperatures well below average and allowing the snow to continue to pile higher and higher.
In Ukraine, the worst-affected country, well over 100 people have died and more than 3,000 have sought hospital treatment.
State news agency Ukrinform said more than 120 ships -- most of them foreign -- were trapped in the Kerch Strait, linking the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea, because of ice.
Parts of the Danube River, one of the most important rivers in Europe for commerce, have nearly frozen over for the first time in 25 years.
Shelters overwhelmed in Poland
Bitter cold temperatures grip Ukraine
Winter whacks Europe
That has led at least four countries to halt shipping along sections of the 1,700-mile-long waterway because of the risk of damage to vessels' hulls. The river is also used for drinking water, irrigation and tourism.
The stretch of the Danube running through Romania has been closed indefinitely to traffic, Romanian state television network TVR reported Friday. However, most roads had reopened as of late Thursday, TVR reported, although major problems remain on the country's rail network.
Romania's capital, Bucharest, reached a low of -24 degrees C for the second morning running Friday, its lowest temperature since the cold snap began two weeks ago.
Bucharest has not seen the mercury climb above the 0 degree Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) freezing point since January 24, Miller said. The average high for this time of year is 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit).
Snow is lying 11 inches deep in Bucharest but has piled up even higher to the west, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the capital, Sarajevo, has seen over 39 inches accumulate in the past two weeks, Miller said. A year ago, the city was covered by less than half an inch of snow.
The Balkan Peninsula has been hammered with a series of potent snow storms, the result of a jet stream that has sagged much farther south than normal, allowing storms to pick up moisture over the waters of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and dump it on the already frozen landscape of the Balkans, Miller added.
In Serbia, the death toll from the cold snap rose to 16 on Friday, Interior Ministry emergencies official Predrag Maric told Serbian state news agency Tanjug.
The situation has improved, he is quoted as saying, since the government declared a state of emergency in 38 municipalities. Authorities are now focusing on getting food to people in the worst-affected areas, the news agency said.
Five more people died of hypothermia overnight in Poland, according to the Interior Ministry, the website of the publicly funded Polish Radio reported, taking the total number of cold related deaths there to 97.
Turkish Airlines, the national flag carrier for Turkey, canceled 57 domestic and international flights Friday because of severe weather, the semiofficial Anatolian news agency reported.
In a sign of the extreme weather conditions, the city hospital in Split, Croatia, has used two years' supply of plaster in only five days; a result of treating the high number of fractures caused by slips on the snowy and icy terrain, Miller said.
South-east and western Europe can also expect more wintry weather over the weekend.
Italy is braced Friday for heavy snowfall, with more than 40 deaths blamed on the cold snap so far, according to reports.
La Repubblica newspaper said it was expected to be the most difficult weekend for more than a decade, with the icy conditions extending as far south as Calabria.
Schools and offices were closed in Rome as city workers prepared to cope with as much as a foot of snow overnight. The mayor has issued an order requiring drivers to carry snow chains, and extra salt has been stockpiled for use on the roads.
Heavy snowfall a week ago paralyzed roads and trains in many cities across Italy, leading to wide criticism of authorities.
The number of beds available for homeless people in Rome has almost doubled, from 1,300 to 2,500, and new shelters have been set up in many metro stations, which are being kept open overnight, officials said.
The Six Nations rugby match between Italy and England in Rome will go ahead Saturday as planned, English rugby union officials said.
Some weather-related delays and cancellations have been reported at Italian airports. Train services have been suspended in 12 regions, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.
The center-north regions of Emilia Romagna, Abruzzo and Marche, where it has been snowing for several days, have been particularly affected by the bad weather. Local trains are suspended.
In the northern Italian city of Trieste, an icy wind is blowing at more than 80 miles per hour and is expected to strengthen, according to the regional civil protection agency. An alert has been issued for strong winds over the next 36 hours, as people in the city report finding it difficult to remain standing in the gusts.
The famous canals of Venice started freezing over this week, preventing gondoliers from plying their trade on the city's picturesque waterways.
Many parts of England and Wales saw snow Thursday night and Friday morning.
CNN's Livia Borghese, Daiva Gailiute and Theo Nikolaou, and CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos contributed to this report.
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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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