Aside from maybe the coldest two weeks, the climate is not even uncomfortable if you are inside (no wind or precipitation), wear thick clothing, and move a little. If you do physical labor, you're going to be sweating.
Nobody is going to die from cold in western Europe's semi-oceanic climate, even without any gas at all. For the vulnerable, there's plenty of alternative fuels. But we do have gas and lots of it, so this seems entirely baseless.
Economic disruption and having to keep our homes and offices a few degrees cooler than we’re used to will make this a “hard winter” for the two or three generations of western Europeans largely used to staying as warm as they like and general prosperity.
But not “hard winter” in terms of people freezing to death. Even if all gas were cut off (and it isn’t, Norway is still exporting) too many of us still have oil heating and/or wood-burning stoves, and are not completely anti-social.
Plus, as another commenter said, it’s not that cold in a lot of Europe all winter long.
And the places that are? Why, they’re the ones most motivated not to let Putin have his way with their countries and were the angriest with Germany over Nordstream - the Baltics and Poland.
Nobody is going to die from cold in western Europe's semi-oceanic climate, even without any gas at all. For the vulnerable, there's plenty of alternative fuels. But we do have gas and lots of it, so this seems entirely baseless.