Police in Brussels have been directed to detain homeless people who refuse shelter during a cold snap.
The order comes from officials after a record cold snap – called “the beast from the east” has descended over much of Europe.
The beast refers to an area of arctic air originating in Siberia – essentially a polar vortex of very cold air – that has raced to the south thanks to a blocking pattern over the Arctic, Global News meteorologist Ross Hull explained.
“This blocking pattern actually allowed warmer air to surge north and bring temperatures above the freezing mark there,” Hull said.
“The atmosphere craves balance though — so the warmer air over the Arctic has allowed Europe to plunge into a deep freeze and experience temperatures well colder than average as well as snow in places that don’t normally see it.”
Temperatures are expected to return to more normal levels across Europe by the weekend.
The World Meteorological Organization said daily minimum temperatures below 0 C were expected even in southern Europe, Reuters reported.
“This cold period … could be a risk to life for vulnerable people exposed to the cold,” officials said.
But for now, fears remain for homeless people in Europe after a 35-year-old man was found dead outside in France. The country has opened emergency shelters.
Three others died in Lithuania because of record colds, which were around -24 C, and seven were left with “substantial frostbite,” the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.
The winter had already claimed the lives of 48 others across Europe, Agence France-Press reported.
The mayor of Brussels’ neighbourhood Etterbeek said he had asked police to take all homeless people to shelters even if they were unwilling to go.
“As a consequence, the mayor of Etterbeek has authorized, in case of absolute necessity, the detention of homeless people who are acting in a way that would endanger their safety by refusing shelter,” Etterbeek council said in a statement.
The mayor of Brussels City, one of 19 councils that make up the greater Brussels region, said he had given similar orders to police and asked them to prioritize children sleeping outside.
In other parts of Europe, the snow left thousands without power in Bulgaria. Officials warned citizens to stay home as roads were closed and airports cancelled thousands of flights.
WATCH: Timelapse of falling snow on Vancouver streets
The beast from the east also brought the coldest period in at least five years to the United Kingdom.
“It is going to bring severe weather that lives up to its name,” Becky Mitchel of the U.K. Met office told CNN.
A rare snowfall in Rome prompted the army to come in to help clear the streets. Officials said it was the largest in six years (10 centimetres in four hours) and asked neighbouring districts to send snow plows.
On a lighthearted note, that led to priests in the Vatican to host an impromptu snowball fight as priests capitalized on the winter weather.
WATCH: Priests start a snow fight at the Vatican in the first snowfall in six years in Rome
*with files from Reuters