Europeans take a wintry wade on New Year's Day

Perhaps it is a cure for the excesses of the night before. Some Europeans are taking traditional dips in cold water to mark New Year’s Day. In the Netherlands, it is a quick run into the icy North Sea – or a frozen lake if you are not near the coast. With the temperature unusually mild at around five degrees celsius, the ‘seals’ club in Berlin have not had to break through any ice this time for their bracing swim on the first day of the year. Watching people jump off the Cavour bridge into the Tiber in Rome has become a tourist attraction. Perhaps it is the skimpy swimwear drawing the crowds!