Storm kills four in Poland, power cut to 350,000 homes

Warsaw (AFP) - Icy winter storms with hurricane-force winds battering northern Europe claimed four more lives in Poland, where some 350,000 homes remained without power, authorities said Saturday.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in the snow on Poland's roads, while air traffic was also seriously affected, the administration ministry said.

Media reports said a man was killed when a strong wind swept him off a balcony where he was working in southwestern Lower Silesia province.

Three other people were killed when a tree fell on their car in northwest Poland, bringing the reported death toll from the storms in recent days across north Europe to 14.

Another 53 people in Poland were injured, reports said.

Firefighters said the snow had caused traffic jams several kilometres (miles) long.

In the central city of Strzelno, firefighters evacuated some 250 people including 200 children from stranded vehicles.

"The firefighters are delivering hot tea and food to people trapped by the snow," spokesman Pawel Fratczak told the PAP news agency.

In the northwest several buses carrying children on school trips had to seek shelter at hotels and schools that were transformed into temporary dormitories.