In a ceremony marking the liberation 60 years ago of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Poland world leaders stood in biting cold and softly falling snow pleading for the horrors of the Holocaust never to be forgotten.

Snow and sub-zero temperatures prevented new Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who attended the Auschwitz ceremony, from flying to Brussels to introduce himself to European Union members. And the arrival in Poland of Russian President Vladimir Putin was delayed for nearly 20 hours due to bad weather.

Eastern and central Europe bore the brunt of the wintry weather, with snow and high winds buffeting Bosnia, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Poland as temperatures hovered around minus eight degrees Celsius (18 Fahrenheit) in many areas.

In Romania, the pilot and co-pilot of a Hungarian mail plane were killed when the aircraft came down in heavy snow near the northeastern Romanian town of Iasi. Authorities had been weighing whether to shut the airport when the plane crashed on approach.

Road traffic all but stopped in central Croatia as snow depths reached 1.20 meters (around four feet), breaking a record dating to 1954.

Wind gusts in Croatia hit 180 kilometers per hour (110 mph) in some areas, as authorities shut down parts of the main north-south national highway to truck traffic.

Switzerland suffered its coldest day this winter with icy temperatures hitting minus 19 degrees Celsius (minus two Fahrenheit) in the western town of Aigle, the weather centre said.

In the Czech Republic, snow continued to fall Thursday, further aggravating already poor travel conditions, with the mercury dropping to between minus five and minus 15 Celsius (23 and five Fahrenheit).

Power cuts hit several communities where snow of up to two meters (seven feet) was recorded.

In the far south of Spain overnight snow shut down the airports of Granada and in the enclave of Melilla in north Africa. Several flights from Madrid to northern Spain were delayed.

France and Spain both broke electricity consumption records late on Wednesday, according to the state power companies -- as people turned up thermostats.

The French and Spanish Pyrenees saw temperatures plummet to minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit), with nearly three dozen Spanish mountain passes closed because of snow, and some 60 only passable for vehicles with chains.

In the French city of Saint Etienne only six of 64 postal rounds were carried out as workers refused to hit the streets after they were refused extra pay to cope with temperatures dipping to minus five CelsiusFahrenheit).

In Bulgaria, over 60 towns remained without electricity. A 14-year-old boy died when he was trapped under a huge snowball as he was making a snowman, press reports said.

Wind gusts of up to 102 kilometers per hour (65 mph) severely damaged many roofs in more than 40 villages in the south, and rain flooded dozens of buildings.

The Austrian capital of Vienna saw 30 centimeters (one foot) of snow in one day.

Several trains were cancelled or delayed in Switzerland, as snow drifts prevented switching equipment from working properly, the state rail company SBB said.

In Rome, where snow is a rarity, residents were treated to a fine white dusting which covered gardens, parks and cars though it quickly melted as snow gave way to rain.

Dozens of trucks were blocked by heavy snow along the Portuguese-Spanish border.

Icy winds also swept across the Mediterranean hitting north Africa with heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures paralyzing large parts of northern Algeria where 13 people were killed.

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