Extreme cold and snow have gripped parts of Europe in ways that the continent has not experienced in years. The images of people struggling to cope with the elements are chilling (no pun intended). Even in Split, Croatia, a coastal town on the Adriatic Sea, snow has blanketed the beaches as temperatures have plunged nearly 30 degrees below average for this time of year. Seeing people walk along the palm tree-lined shore as snow falls unrelentingly is almost too incongruous to process.