Marseille - France's Mediterranean coast lay under a blanket of snow yesterday as a cold snap moved over Europe from the east, bringing traffic chaos in its wake.
Lorries were banned from the northbound side of the main A7 motorway between Paris and Marseille around Lyon, as icy conditions made the surface treacherous.
Heavy snow forced a three-hour closing of the Frejus tunnel, an important link between France and Italy.
In Italy, Milan was bought to a halt overnight as a snow storm covered the city centre.
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Some of the coldest temperatures were recorded in the Alps with a weather station on top of the Jungfraujoch mountain in Bern canton, Switzerland, registered a low of minus 30.7 degrees Celsius.