The severe cold snap gripping Europe has raised the demand for heating and consequently disrupted the supply of electricity and gas across the continent.

In Bosnia and other countries, the power supply was cut off due to snow piled on electric cables.

Meanwhile, the Serbian government has asked people to conserve energy and avoid using electricity, as the demand for power hit an all-time high.

Germany began reoperating some of its nuclear power plants, which it has retained as a reserve energy source. Germany announced plans to shut down all of its nuclear power plants by 2022 after a massive earthquake caused a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan last March.

Russia has reduced the provision of energy to other European countries to meet soaring domestic demand.