Meteorologists are predicting that the severe cold spell currently affecting Europe, which is the worst seen in decades, may continue until the end of February. This could lead to more deaths and a prolonged increase in European spot gas prices. According to Leon Brown from The Weather Channel in Britain, while there may be a change in weather by mid-February, it is unlikely to bring milder conditions. The cold weather and heavy snowfall have already resulted in hundreds of deaths across Europe, with temperatures dropping to nearly minus 40 degrees Celsius in some eastern countries. According to the Defence Ministry, over 130 villages in Bulgaria were still without electricity on Wednesday. The army was providing food and medicines to these areas. Bulgaria observed a day of mourning for the eight individuals who lost their lives due to a dam bursting from melting snow, flooding a village completely. Two people are still unaccounted for. Kristalina Georgieva, the European Union's crisis response chief, warned that the worst of the flooding is yet to come. Meanwhile, in Bosnia, five additional deaths were reported on Wednesday due to the cold and snow, bringing the total death toll to 13. In Serbia, 13 people have died and 70,000 are stranded by snow. Authorities are warning people to remove icicles from roofs after a woman in Belgrade was killed by falling ice. Energy production in hydro-power plants is being hampered by ice, and coal trains are having difficulty running. In Croatia, high winds have brought fish from the Adriatic sea to the island of Pag. Cold polar air from northern Russia has kept warmer weather from moving in, causing sub-zero temperatures across Europe for the past 10 days. Officials from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva this week did not dismiss the possibility of cold temperatures persisting throughout February. Omar Baddour, who oversees the WMO's climate data monitoring program, stated that there is a chance the pressure system could begin to weaken next week, but it may linger until the end of the month. The "negative Arctic oscillation", which is causing the cold weather, is expected to take two or three weeks to return to normal, according to Baddour. This delay could result in a prolonged period of freezing temperatures with no early thaw. While the high-pressure system itself is not uncommon, the sudden shift to colder weather after a period of mild temperatures has surprised experts. Brown described the winter as unique and perplexing in its development. Georg Mueller, a forecaster at Point Carbon, a Thomson Reuters company, stated that the recent cold spell in January and February is the strongest one to occur in February in 26 years. Mueller mentioned that the last similarly severe cold weather in February was in 1986. The current Siberian blocking pattern is so large that it is challenging to predict its movement, according to Brown. Brown also noted that the cold air blocking seemed to affect wind patterns, rather than the other way around. "We were surprised by the prolonged duration and westward movement of the cold block. Computer models are struggling to predict when the system will dissipate from Europe, according to Brown. The cold spell has caused British gas prices to soar to their highest levels since 2006, exceeding 100 pence per therm on Tuesday, a surge of over 15 percent. Russia reduced gas exports to Europe last week due to record demand, leading countries like Italy to boost imports from Algeria and tap into stored gas reserves. Continued cold weather and higher domestic demand may compel Russia to once again reduce its gas exports to Europe."