Snow blanketed Italy on Wednesday on what is forecast to be the coldest week in 27 years, forcing the closure of tracts of motorway and snarling traffic in the cities of Bologna and Milan.

Heavy goods lorries were banned from the roads in the central regions of Marche, Tuscany and Umbria until further notice and schools were shut in several areas, while a major hospital in Turin was also closed.

Train services have been reduced and there were delays on the rail network.

The snow led to the cancellation of several top football matches on Tuesday including Juventus-Parma. Organisers were hoping that a face-off between Inter and Palermo at Milan's San Siro stadium on Wednesday could still go ahead.

Italian news agency ANSA reported that bad weather also caused an accident in Syracuse in Sicily in which a one-year-old boy was left gravely injured when his mother drove their car into a stream swollen by heavy rain.

Forecasts are for more snow and colder temperatures in the days ahead, with a low of minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four degrees Fahrenheit) in the Alps.

Ukraine cold snap kills 43: ministry
Kiev (AFP) Feb 1, 2012 - Forty three have died of hypothermia in the Ukraine over the past six days as the country has suffered a severe spell of cold weather, the emergency services ministry said Wednesday.

Most were homeless people who froze to death on the streets, while seven were found dead in their homes, and more than 800 people sought medical help for frostbite and hypothermia.

Authorities have opened 1,735 shelters to provide food and heat, and are planning to set up 122 more, as temperatures plunge to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions.

All the schools in Kiev will be closed till February 5, city authorities said Wednesday, and the unscheduled vacation could be extended.