BUDAPEST, February 10, 2012 (AFP) - Hungary closed the Danube to river traffic Friday due to thick ice, bringing shipping to a near standstill on Europe's busiest waterway, as the continent's cold snap death toll passed 540.

"Shipping was ordered stopped overnight Thursday to Friday because of conditions created by icing along the Hungarian part of the river," Istvan Lang, who heads the national technical supervisory body OMIT said.

"All ships still underway must immediately head for the closest harbour," Lang, quoted by MTI news agency, said.

by Diana Simeonova

SOFIA, February 6, 2012 (AFP) - The toll from Europe's winter weather edged past 360 Monday when snow- and rain-swollen rivers burst a Bulgarian dam and killed at least eight, while more homeless people perished on frigid city streets.

Four elderly people drowned in their homes in the southeastern Bulgarian village of Biser after a nearby dam wall broke, submerging the whole village under 2.5 metres (eight feet) of icy water, the interior ministry said.

KIEV — A cold snap that killed 30 people in the Ukraine over the past five days Tuesday spread to much of eastern and central Europe with record lows in Bulgaria and heavy snow falls in Switzerland.

Emergency services in the Ukraine said most of the dead were homeless people who froze to death on the streets, four were found in their homes, and over 600 people sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia.