Weather forecasters say there is no immediate relief in sight to the eastern European cold snap that has killed at least 36 people since Saturday.

Forecasters expect temperatures, which have been as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius in some places, to drop even more this week.

Police in Ukraine say 18 people, most of them homeless, froze to death, while 10 died in Poland.

Deaths also are reported in Bulgaria and Romania, where prison inmates dug through heavy snow and ice to rescue hundreds of stray dogs left behind in an animal shelter.

The freezing weather caught many eastern Europeans by surprise. This winter had been unusually mild with spring-like temperatures in many cities.