I think after a few very mild winters over significant parts of Europe, the current situation is a return to the very severe winters that Europe sometimes receives. Many cities in central to eastern Europe appear to have all time record lows in the -25C to -30C range, so this current event is a very major one but certainly not unprecedented.
To tell you the truth I wouldn't mind a proper cold winter here this year like we used to get with occasional snow to low levels and decent frosty mornings etc. contrasting properly with autumn and spring so we get proper seasons. It would be nice if what was happening in Europe was reflected in our temps for the next year.
I know that's not the way it works though.