EUROPE THE SNOW BLITZ A HOWLING GALE FROM THE ARCTIC ICEBOX COLLIDED 
OVER WESTERN EUROPE WITH WARM, MOIST WINDS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN . 
THE RESULT : THE MOST SAVAGE WINTER STORMS OF THE CENTURY 
. AN AUSTRIAN EXPRESS TRAIN BOUND FROM VIENNA TO PARIS GOT 
SO THOROUGHLY LOST IN THE BLIZZARD THAT IT ENDED UP IN 
MUNICH . A YUGOSLAV TRAIN REACHED ITS DESTINATION MINUS ITS LAST 
FIVE CARS ; THEY HAD BLOWN OFF EN ROUTE . EVEN 
SUCH SOUTHERN CITIES AS MARSEILLE AND BARCELONA WERE BLANKETED WITH SNOW 
. TEMPERATURES FELL SO LOW IN SWITZERLAND THAT THE HARDY MONKS 
AND TRUSTY DOGS OF ST . BERNARD RETREATED TO THE VALLEY 
FROM THEIR ALPINE MONASTERY . TEN FRENCH VILLAGES ALONG THE ENGLISH 
CHANNEL WERE ISOLATED FOR DAYS, AND INHABITANTS RAN OUT OF BREAD, 
MEAT AND COAL . ROADS IN NORTHERN FRANCE BECAME LITERALLY PATHS 
OF ICE, AND A MAN COULD HAVE SKATED 100 MILES FROM 
BOULOGNE TO BEAUVAIS . AS RIVERS AND CANALS FROZE IN THE 
NETHERLANDS, DROVES OF ICE SKATERS TURNED OUT, AND 50 DROWNED IN 
A SINGLE DAY . IN SOME PLACES ALONG EUROPE'S BALTIC COAST, 
THE SEA ITSELF WAS TURNING TO ICE . BRITAIN WAS HIT 
EVEN MORE SAVAGELY THAN THE CONTINENT . SOME 95,000 MILES OF 
HIGHWAYS WERE COMPLETELY OUT OF SERVICE . EIGHT-FOOT DRIFTS BLOCKED THE 
MAIN ROAD FROM LONDON TO PORTSMOUTH, AND NEAR WEYMOUTH, BELATED RESCUERS 
DUG DOWN TO A SNOW-BURIED CAR, FOUND TWO DEAD AND THREE 
NEARLY SMOTHERED TRAVELERS . HELICOPTERS IN DORSET SAVED 71 TRAPPED BUS 
PASSENGERS, INCLUDING A MONTH-OLD BABY SHELTERED IN A CARDBOARD BOX . 
ASIAN GURKHA TROOPS WERE CALLED OUT FROM ARMY CAMPS TO RESCUE 
STRANDED OLD-AGE PENSIONERS IN WILTSHIRE . ONE RESULT OF THE WEATHER 
WAS LONDON'S QUIETEST NEW YEAR'S EVE IN RECENT MEMORY . ONLY 
A FEW HARDY SOULS GATHERED IN PICCADILLY CIRCUS FOR THE TRADITIONAL 
SINGING OF AULD LANG SYNE . THERE WERE 162 ARRESTS, MOSTLY 
FOR THROWING SNOWBALLS AT POLICEMEN . A DAILY HERALD COLUMNIST DISCOVERED 
ANOTHER SOCIAL EFFECT OF THE SNOW BLITZ . IN MOCK HORROR, 
HE REPORTED THAT " FIVE TOTAL STRANGERS TALKED TO ME IN 
THE BLIZZARD ON THE STATION PLATFORM . 