Discussion of Europe's cold winter in today's Washington Post. It gets into considerable detail:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/?hpid=weather-sidecar


"One of the fiercest beginnings to winter on record has slammed Europe...."

"The unusually wintry weather gripping Europe as well as the cold plaguing the eastern United States are linked by a historically strong weather system locked over Greenland."