(Image Source: Kyiv Post)

BY KEVIN DONNELLAN

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

While much of the United States enjoys a mild winter, Al Jazeera reports that eastern Europe is far from a winter wonderland.

“This might look picturesque but in Ukraine the cold snap has been particularly deadly. More than 40 people have died as temperatures fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius.”

BBC put the death toll in Ukraine even higher.

“Temperatures are below -30C (-27F) in parts of Europe and 63 people have died in Ukraine and 29 in Poland. In Italy, weather experts say it is the coldest week for 27 years.”

And Sky News explains that as temperatures hit record lows across parts of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and the Balkans logistical problems have arisen.

“Food and medicine has had to be airlifted into isolated villages but some places are completely unreachable. There have been reports from Serbia that 11,000 people are trapped in remote mountainous areas.”

Euronews reported one heartwarming story in the midst of the cold from Romania.  300 stray dogs were rescued from the elements by some unlikely heroes.

“Volunteers from a local prison worked for hours to dig out alleyways to help the freezing animals.”

This is all in stark contrast to the situation in the United States. With CBS News telling us to...

“Forget snow. For much of the country there's not even a nip in the air. On Tuesday, the last day in January, all but a handful of states had temperatures in the 50s or higher. In the nation's capital, where temperatures flirted with the 70s, some cherry trees are already budding — weeks early.”

No quick relief in sight for Europeans though. Temperatures are expected to remain low across the continent for the remainder of the week.