In Europe freezing weather and a fuel standoff

After relatively mild weather during the Christmas holidays, winter has come in full force to Europe. It has brought strange sights such as the port in Marseille covered in snow! In a normally sunny French Riviera trains are halted and people are wary of venturing outside their homes. In my case I am having fond memories of my home in Florida… Still compare with other areas of France and other European countries I should not complain. In Paris the temperatures had forced the closure of the Eiffel Tower which being covered in ice it was too dangerous to visit. As Isabelle Esnous, the press officer of the Eiffel Tower said , “We can’t put down salt because it’s metallic and we can’t use sand either … because it risks getting into the elevator (cogs).”
And to this we have to add the dispute between Russia and Ukraine which has interrupted the natural gas supplies to many European countries. Russia said that it had no choice but to close its pipelines through Ukraine, the country where 80 per cent of Russian gas bound for Europe flows. It claims that Ukraine is taking gas it has not paid for from the pipelines, reducing the onward supply to Europe. The claim was denied by Kiev. Governments across Europe declared states of emergency and ordered factories to close. The interruption is creating hardship during the coldest weather Europe has faced within a number of years, with temperatures as low as minus 27C. Not a good beginning of the year.