In Estonia, the authorities handed out extra food and clothing to homeless people in an effort to prevent deaths from hypothermia, said Marika Raiski, a spokeswoman for the social affairs ministry.

Homeless people were allowed to sleep at a number of train or bus stations during the cold spell, while shelters for the homeless that are usually open only at night kept their doors open 24 hours from Wednesday night.

The coldest temperature on Thursday, minus 30 C, was registered in the southeastern part of Estonia near the border with Russia.

In neighbouring Latvia, many schools were empty as parents kept their children at home as temperatures dropped to minus 30 degrees C Thursday morning in northern and eastern regions of the Baltic country.

According to Latvian law, children under 12 can skip school if temperatures fall to lower than minus 20 degrees C (minus four F).

In the western town of Liepaja, the local authorities said drivers could not start their buses and cars, particularly those running on diesel.

The Latvian environment, geology and meteorology agency said temperatures in some regions could fall to minus 32 degrees C (minus 25.6 F) in coming days, before rising on Monday.

In Lithuania, electric wires on trolley-buses in the capital Vilnius snapped and families reliant on gas heating complained of disrupted supplies as temperatures plunged to minus 27 C (minus 16.6 F) in some regions -- the coldest so far this year.

Judita Liukaityte, an expert from the Lithuanian hydrometeorological service, told AFP that temperatures were expected to drop to lower than minus 30 C and were likely to remain at that level until the middle of next week.

In Poland, 19 people died of exposure to cold in the last nine days, bringing to 122 the number who have fallen victim to freezing weather this winter, police said Thursday.

Fifty-two of the victims were homeless people, police spokeswoman Grazyna Puchalska told AFP. She added that around half of those who died were under the influence of alcohol.

Temperatures in the Polish capital Warsaw were comparatively mild at minus eight C (17.6 F) Thursday.

The IMIGW meteorological institute said it expected a drop to minus 14 C (6.8 F) on Friday, and a plunge to minus 20 C (minus four F) in daytime temperatures from Tuesday as a more severe cold wave hits next week.

Last winter, some 180 people died of cold in Poland, according to police statistics.

Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the European Union in 2004.

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