Romania still in the grips of snow and ice

After heavy snowfall, Romania is now in the grips of extreme cold.

Roxana Vasile, 31.01.2014, 14:21

The Romanian authorities are still struggling to reach a number of isolated villages following last week’s massive snowfalls that mostly hit the south and south-east of the country. Road and railway travel is still difficult. Prime minister Victor Ponta said the number one priority is cleaning the roads and ensuring the needed supplies. He called on the local authorities to remain on the alert in the coming days.

While most mayors and county prefects have handled the situation well, there were also cases where snow removing and rescue operations have been badly managed. Prime minister Ponta says he plans to sack all officials who have not done their jobs well. Schools in Bucharest and 14 counties hit by the bad weather were closed on Friday for the fifth day in a row. In the meantime, snowfalls have been replaced by extreme cold, with temperatures dropping to even 17 degrees Celsius in Bucharest. Weather forecasts say a new cold spell with temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius is expected again next week.

While the snow and cold are a nuisance for some people, winter sports lovers couldn’t be happier. After losing all hope of ever seeing snow this winter in Romania, they are more than pleased with the abundant snowfall in recent days. In one of Romania’s most popular winter resorts, Poiana Brasov, the layer of snow is 50-70 cm thick and all cable transport facilities are operational. Snow making machines have also been running for the last 3 days to build up snow reserves for the extension of the ski season. According to official data, around 140 km in all of Romania are good for skiing, while most of the country’s 150 official ski trails are less than 1 km long.