Kingfisher Found Frozen Solid In Dutch Canal As Europe Braves Chill

While you might think the weather's been wintry in the UK this week it's been pretty nippy across the European continent too as one poor wild bird found out in the Netherlands.

A kingfisher was found frozen solid in one of the country's famous canals, many of which have frozen solid over the past week due to the blast of sub-zero temperatures hitting the continent.

The Independent reported that skater Christoph van Ingen spotted the bright blue bird in the water in the town of Oostzaan, just north of the country's capital Amsterdam.

Cover Images

According to The Independent, van Ingen said he believed the bird might have dived into the canal to catch fish just as the water was turning solid and found itself unable to escape. Poor sod.

While the kingfisher is a sad case of nature not being fair, the gentoo penguins of Edinburgh Zoo have enjoying the cold snap quite a bit more as they were spotted buzzing all over their enclosure.

Obviously, penguins are used to chilly climates - gentoo penguins originally hail from sub-Antarctic islands - so the birds suddenly found themselves in their element.

The zoo tweeted: "The weather conditions may have been challenging for us humans, but they didn't stop this gentoo penguin from enjoying the #snowday2018!"

The plight of the poor kingfisher isn't the only way the Netherlands has been affected by the weather aspeople across the Netherlands have been taking advantage of the cold snap to ice skate across Amsterdam's web of frozen canals.

Dozens of people took to the ice of the Prinsengracht canal earlier this week to have a casual skate with some people even taking their dogs out onto the frozen water.

The skaters benefited from the authorities' decision to ban boats from sailing some of the canals in order to help the ice harden enough to be able to take people's weight.

PA

The deep freeze caused by Storm Emma and the Beast from the East has hit Europe hard with the entire region being afflicted by heavy snowfall and blizzards. One German town near the Baltic Ocean faced temperatures as low as -17.5C. Brrrr.

Meteorologists have linked the cause of the cold snap to prolonged spells of warm air over the Arctic Ocean, caused by man-made climate change.

Nothing like a dead kingfisher and the fact the icecaps are melting to put a dampener on your snow day, huh?

Topics: Death, World News, News, Europe, Beast From The East, Storm Emma, cold

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing before completing his NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. Chris has previously written for the independent culture magazine The Skinny, among other publications.

@TheThumbCompass