Reporting from the country in question,
I can tell it is not abnormally cold around here.
It's not the general sensus, but it was about the same kind of weather in the south-eastern parts of norway, where i live, in 2001/2002. It's been down to -23C here, with more inland parts down to -40C or below.
I'm not going to fuel the speculation towards this being a natural event or a triggered one, as there is just to many versions going around at this time.
However, the weather in the rest of europe and asia seems to me more abnormal than what we are experiencing here.
At least it's something to think about!
