Severe winter weather continues to dominate several eastern European countries with air and road travel disrupted and gas supples running low.

Ukraine is reported to be the hardest hit where temperatures as low as minus 32 degrees Celsius have left more than 120 people dead, many of them homeless citizens of Kiev, the capital.

Rome, the Italian capital, is said to be paralyzed, suffering from the heaviest snow fall in decades. Authorities have been forced to close several tourist sites, including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Hundreds of people were rescued Saturday from a ferry that got stuck off Italy's Civitavecchia port, raising fears of a repeat of last month's cruise ship disaster that killed an estimated 32 people.

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom says that so far it has been unable to satisfy gas shortages in at least eight European nations, ranging from Italy to Poland.

Authorities at London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest, have announced a 30 percent decrease in flights as it braces for as much as 15 centimeters of snow predicted to fall later on Saturday.