The first band of what forecasters predict will be the region's most powerful storm in a decade moved into Northern California on Saturday, prompting official warnings of widespread flooding and epic snowfall.

"People are definitely in a state of panic right now," said El Dorado County Sheriff's Sgt. Todd Hammitt. "We're getting a lot of calls asking if we're going to be able to deal with everything. It's the general pandemonium of not knowing what's coming."

Bone-freezing cold, heavy snowstorms, and floods have been plaguing the European continent this week, causing power outages, traffic jams, cancelled flights, and even a stream of plastic eggs with toys washing up on a German island.

On Saturday, heavy precipitation paralyzed Istanbul, Turkey. Around 6,000 passengers found themselves stranded as hundreds of flights to and from the city's main Ataturk Airport were cancelled due to the snowstorm.

The Bosphorus Strait was closed to ships due to poor visibility, cutting off the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea from the Mediterranean.

Many drivers abandoned their cars and walked rather than waiting for streets to be cleaned. Istanbul's metro system operated throughout the night to deal with a sudden passenger spike.

Blizzards swept parts of Europe on Friday, causing at least nine deaths, closing roads and resulting in traffic accidents, travel delays and medical evacuations.

In Poland, the cold snap was blamed for five deaths in 24 hours. Three people died from hypothermia, while two more died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by malfunctioning heaters, the government Security Center said.

Officials in neighboring Ukraine reported that four people had died from effects of the cold in the Lviv region near the Polish border.

In Romania, authorities said 90 people were rescued from stranded cars and that crews were working to save people stuck in some 30 cars on a major highway. More than 40 trains were not running due to snow on the tracks.

Senior emergency situations official Raed Arafat said Romanian authorities also evacuated 622 people who needed dialysis and 126 pregnant women. The blizzard is expected to ease off late Friday.

Winter's first heavy snowfall intensified the cold wave while it disrupted normal life in the state's capital Shimla and its surroundings.

Strong western disturbances brought intermittent spell of snow in the capital town that affected the normal life. Shimla's highest point Jakhu recorded 15 centimetres of the snow.

Snow covered roads disrupted the traffic movement in the capital town, hampering supplies of daily commodities. Kalka-Shimla national highway remained block beyond Taradevi, as the vehicles could not ply on the snow laden roads. Thunderstorm that lashed the town during the last 24 hours also impacted electricity supply in the town.

Many areas of the town including brockhurst, Jakhu, US Club and Khalini were affected . Kufri the closest tourist destination from states capital recorded 24 centimetres of the snowfall. The strategic Hindustan Tibet road has been closed for traffic beyond Sanjauli. The famous tourist resort Narkanda experienced 30 centimetres of snow.

The rush was on as millions in the Deep South began preparations Thursday for Helena, a dangerous, deadly winter storm that could cause serious problems across the region over the weekend.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced Thursday afternoon that a state of emergency will take effect Friday morning at 7 a.m. CST. The declaration affects all counties in the state, and among the impacts of the state of emergency is the activation of 300 soldiers from the Alabama National Guard to assist mission support teams and command staff.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal also declared a state of emergency, which was set to begin at noon on Friday.

On Thursday, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency warned North Georgia residents to prepare for the winter storm and urged people to have enough food and other supplies on hand to stay in their homes for three days. Several school districts in metro Atlanta will dismiss students early on Friday.

The Georgia Department of Transportation began working days ahead of the storm to make sure they are ready when wintry weather moves into central and north Georgia, including metro Atlanta, Friday night into Saturday, reports WALB.com.

"In the metro area, we have 10 5,000-gallon tanker trucks to treat the interstate," GDOT Maintenance Engineer Dale Bradley said.

Pre-treating roads with brine is a new tactic for GDOT since Winter Storm Leon crippled the city and left drivers stranded on area roads in January 2014.

"We are trying to pre-treat before the storm, but at the same time close enough to the storm that if it does come in as heavy rain, we don't get a lot of it washed off," Bradley said.

Into the Carolinas, residents began to stock up on food and other supplies with even bigger snow totals in the forecast.

States from California to Colorado and Wyoming are dealing with heavy snowfall, as a fierce winter storm moves across much of the western U.S. (Jan 5)

Two girls were killed while two others were burnt after separate lightning strikes in Lupane and Tsholotsho.

Matabeleland North acting provincial spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Eglon Nkala confirmed the deaths. The Tsholotsho girl was 12 years old while the one from Lupane was seven.

"I can confirm two girls died after they were struck by a lightning bolt, one in Tsholotsho and the other in Lupane. In Tsholotsho a lightning bolt struck at around 2 PM, while in Lupane the incident occurred at around 4 PM.

"Post mortem was done on both bodies and no foul play is suspected," said Asst Insp Nkala.

Chief Mabhikwa of Lupane said the girl who was killed by lightning in his area was in the company of two others aged 11 and 13 years who are in hospital after they suffered burns.

He said the three girls were herding donkeys in the playgrounds of Somhlanga Primary School when it started raining.

At least six people have been killed after powerful storms, spawning several tornadoes, battered parts of the southeast United States, leaving a trail of destruction.

Four people were killed in Rehobeth, Alabama on Monday evening after a tree fell through their mobile home.

Almost 16,000 households across Poland were left without electricity on Wednesday after heavy snowfall and fierce winds downed power lines.

Forecasters have said that regions close to the mountains may see up to half a metre of snow over 24 hours from Wednesday but added that heavy snowfall is not expected in most other areas of the country.

Meanwhile, temperatures are set to plunge at night as arctic air arrives in Poland from the north. The mercury in northeastern Poland is expected to drop to minus 17 degrees C.

The authorities have warned that homeless people may be in danger unless they find shelter.

Source: IAR/PAP

A violent winter storm pattern will thrash through all of Austria this Wednesday. Recent forecasts have put the entire country under red alert and are predicting very difficult winter conditions that have gone so far as to impact the national train service.

According to Heute, the region of Upper Austria is currently under heavy snowfall and the outskirts of Vienna have already been hit by incredible wind speeds, peaking at 131km/hr. Within the city itself, gusts of up to 100km/hr were measured, which has lead to the closure of many major public parks, including the Augarten, Burggarten, Volksgarten, the grounds of the Belvedere Palace and Glorietteberg.

Even the city's central ice rink located in front of town hall known as the 'Wiener Eistraum' was forced to shut down due to potential dangerous conditions. City police have also reported trees toppling over onto the street, one even crushing a parked car in the district of Ottakring.