"The toll of people who died from cold since the beginning of winter is now 185 up to midnight Wednesday," national police spokeswoman Grazyna Puchalska told AFP.

After a week of Arctic chill when temperatures plunged to minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 Fahrenheit), the mercury Thursday morning registered minus 12 C (10.4 F) in the southeast of Poland and minus 2 C (28.4 F) in the northwest.

Schools that closed because of the cold in many parts of the country reopened for classes.

Forecasters predicted milder temperatures in the days ahead but heavy snowfall across Poland as the mercury stays under freezing point.

In the Latvian capital Riga, temperatures were minus 6 C (21.2 F) as the cold spell that beset the country receded. A week ago, some parts of the Baltic state shivered as the mercury hit minus 32 C (minus 25.6 F).

Lithuanians were also enjoying a respite from bone-chilling weather. Thursday morning's temperatures hovered around minus 13 C (8.6 F), up from a low of minus 31 C (minus 23.8 F) in the eastern part of the country last Friday.

The cold subsided in Estonia too, with maximum temperatures of minus 7 C (19.4 F) Thursday morning, up from a low of minus 33 C (minus 27.4 F) on January 20.

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