Romania in the grips of winter
Romania is going through its coldest spell this year, with temperatures going down to minus 18 degrees Celsius in the mountains.
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Eugen Coroianu, 22.01.2024, 02:00
Most of Romania was faced at the weekend with snow, rain and blizzard. A layer of snow was deposited, including in the capital Bucharest, much to the childrens delight. This used to be a normal occurrence in Romania in winter, but has become rarer due to global warming. A number of cars were damaged as trees fell due to the snowfall. Travel took place in wintry conditions on most roads across the country, and the authorities have dispatched snow removal vehicles and used anti-icing agents to clean the roads. National roads and motorways were mostly open for travel and no weight restrictions were in place, despite the unfavourable weather. Motorists were advised to check travel conditions before setting out, to equip their cars with winter tyres and to slow down when travelling on roads covered by snow using the engine brake.
Railway travel also took place in wintry conditions, but without major problems. Many trains were, however, delayed as tracks broke because of low temperatures. The Bucharest National Airport Company announced that planes landed and took off safely and no flight had to be cancelled because of the weather. Some flights were delayed because of preparations to de-ice the aircraft after passengers got on board. Mountain rescue services received more calls than usual requesting emergency intervention. More than a hundred people were rescued in the mountains, some cases requesting the use of helicopters.
A series of rivers in the north of the country saw their flow and levels rise because of flash floods in the mountains. The level of the river Danube is also expected to go up towards the end of the week, to exceed the multiannual average for the month of January. Hydrologists are in fact expecting that the maximum flow of the river will be almost double the average for this time of the year.
The neighbouring Bulgaria was also in the grips of winter, with orange and yellow codes for severe weather in place there. Earlier, Germany also struggled with snow and blizzard, and Storm Isha is wreaking havoc in the north and west of Europe. In the United States, at least 90 people died as their country was hit by terrible winter storms over the past week. Most deaths were recorded in Tennessee and Oregon as a result of ice storms. Dozens of thousands of residents were without electricity in some regions and the extreme weather is expected to continue to affect America until the middle of the week. (CM)
