A broad mid-winter freeze across northern Europe has triggered major icebreaker deployments from the southern Baltic to the Gulf of Bothnia, with Poland and Sweden operating multi-vessel fleets, Denmark activating state ice services in internal waters, and Norway maintaining a limited deployment in line with more typical seasonal conditions.

Blaming a ‘meandering polar jet stream’ spilling icy air into Europe and North America, the EU’s ‘Eyes on Earth’ climate body said Europe had this year experienced its coldest January since 2010.