A 60-year-old man froze to death outside his house near Brno, in the southeast of the Czech Republic, police said. Apparently he had been drinking alcohol, they added. Southern Germany and Austria were also hit by the unseasonal snowfall and by black ice on the roads.

The Soelk mountain pass in southeastern Austria was closed Thursday due to snow. Closure of the pass is seen as a sure sign that winter has arrived.

Central Europe is no stranger to hard, snowy winters but this year the first snowfall came hard on the heels of a sunny October. Last week in Poland, temperatures were in the 20s C (68 F), while on Wednesday they plummeted suddenly to just below freezing.

In the southern Austrian province of Carinthia, temperatures that were hovering at around 25 degrees C only a few days ago suddenly fell below freezing Wednesday.

The abrupt -- and early -- change in the weather meant many motorists and transportation providers were caught unprepared. Many had not yet changed their tyres from summer to winter models.

A series of minor accidents occurred on the main highway connecting the Czech capital Prague and the country's second city, Brno.

Drivers in the Austrian Alps were told to use chains on their cars to navigate the snow-covered roads.

And in Upper Austria, black ice caused several accidents, including one involving more than 20 cars near the town of Linz. Two people were slightly injured. The A9 motorway linking the German capital Berlin with the southern city of Munich, and the A93 that cuts across Bavaria were briefly closed to traffic, because of the weather conditions.

In southwestern Poland, black ice and snow caused huge traffic snarls near Wroclaw.

Even in countries where it's obligatory to have winter tyres, such as the three Baltic states in northeastern Europe, the cold snap arrived a month before the December deadline for motorists to get their winter tyres out of mothballs and put them on their vehicles.

"Although winter tyres are compulsory as of December 1, we recommend drivers change their tyres immediately because of the very changeable weather conditions," traffic police spokesman Riho Tanak said in a statement.

More than 100 road accidents were registered in Estonia, which sits north of the 58th parallel, most of them caused by icy roads which took drivers by surprise. Three staff members of a northeast Estonian prosecutor's office were killed in a road accident Wednesday night as they left Tallinn in a heavy snowstorm, after attending a legal training meeting.

Although it is not unusual for winter to arrive in November in Estonia, and temperatures of minus five C (23 F) and snow are nothing extraordinary in the country, the first snow of the winter often catches road-users off guard, an insurance expert said.

"Our practice and statistics show there is a surge of road accidents with the first winter weather," Erik Magi of If Eesti insurance said.

"But the number of 'first-snow' accidents could be cut by half if cars had winter tyres and drivers were prepared to adapt their driving to fit the conditions," he said.

earlier related report
It happens every year, but first snow takes Estonians by surprise
Tallinn (AFP) Nov 2 - Although snow in November is not unusual for Estonia, the northernmost of the Baltic states, the first snowfall of winter on Thursday caused road chaos and several accidents, at least one of them fatal.

"The high number of accidents registered in the past 24 hours shows that winter has again come unexpectedly for drivers," traffic police spokesman Riho Tanak said in a statement.

"Although winter tyres are compulsory as of December 1, we recommend drivers change their tyres immediately because of the very changeable weather conditions," he said.

More than 100 road accidents were registered Thursday, most of them caused by icy roads which took drivers by surprise. Three staff members of a northeast Estonian prosecutor's office were killed in a road accident Wednesday night as they left Tallinn in a heavy snowstorm, after attending a legal training meeting.

The city authorities of Tallinn announced that public buses would not stick to schedules Thursday because of slippery roads.

Cars which are still fitted with summer tyres were further slowing traffic, and the ferries that serve Estonia's islands stayed in port Thursday because of high winds in the Baltic Sea.

Shipping lines that cover the 70 kilometres (42 miles) between Tallinn and the Finnish capital Helsinki also suffered some disruptions because of the weather.

Although it is not unusual for winter to arrive in November in Estonia, and temperatures of minus five degrees Centigrade (23 Fahrenheit) and snow are nothing extraordinary in the country that lies north of the 58th parallel, the first snow of the winter often catches road-users off guard, an insurance expert said.

"Our practice and statistics show there is a surge of road accidents with the first winter weather," Erik Magi of If Eesti insurance said.

"But the number of 'first-snow' accidents could be cut by half if cars had winter tyres and drivers were prepared to adapt their driving to fit the conditions," he said.

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