French minister tells homeless 'stay indoors'

A French health minister tried to tweet her way out of embarrassing blog advice that homeless people should not go outdoors during the ice-cold snap in Europe.

French Junior minister Nora Berra was ridiculed on the internet for writing a blog at the weekend saying toddlers, old people, the sick and homeless were particularly vulnerable in times of extreme cold and should "avoid going outdoors".

Her note sparked a flurry of Twitter messages and media reports that she was suggesting the homeless not leave home.

Ms Berra sought to limit the damage via a tweet that redirected readers to a refreshed blog note where the reference to homeless people no longer existed.

"There are some subjects that lend themselves badly to irony," she tweeted yesterday.

Hundreds of people, many of them homeless, have been killed in recent days as bitterly cold weather sweeps across Europe, with temperatures dropping to -20C in parts of France.