In a flap over frozen swans

A number of residents contacted emergency services after they feared a motionless flock of swans had become frozen to the ice.

As temperatures in Luxembourg dropped to minus 15C, residents' fears for the bevy of feathered creatures on a body of water between Steinheim and Rosport grew.

According to a citizen journalist on community website mywort.lu they then alerted the Rosport fire and rescue service who discovered that the creatures were not dead or frozen but simply resting to conserve energy in the wintery chill.

The German Society for Nature Conservation (NABU) responded to the report saying that there was no risk of swans freezing.

“In general, animals sit quietly in order to save energy,” explained NABU spokesman Walter Wimmer, adding: “What's more important is to not flush out the animals to avoid them from consuming additional resources.”