Winter weather brings icy roads, flight delays

Winter has arrived in full force in Bulgaria. The snow has led to many restrictions on the roads and flights have been delayed due to gale force winds. There was heavy snowfall on the Pass of the Republic and on "Shipka" pass. Motorists are urged to be cautious while driving in winter conditions.

One person died as a consequence of a serious accident on the road to Danube Bridge 2 near Montana. Around 4:00 this morning, February 5, a road gritting lorry and a heavy goods vehicle collided. The driver of one of the vehicles died at the scene. Traffic in the area was blocked.

TIR lorries, unprepared for winter conditions, got stuck in Vratsa district, North-Western Bulgaria. In some open areas in the district the snow cover reached about 15 cm, but many heavy goods vehicles got stuck even on the sections cleared of snow. The traffic police said that many of the drivers of the lorries travelling to the bridge near Vidin or to the ferry near Oryahovo were not prepared for driving in winter conditions.

Nearly 780 snow ploughing machines were clearing roads in areas with snowfall.

Due to the wind, three of the early morning flights at Varna airport were postponed and delayed by about an hour. No other flights have been delayed at the moment. Only the flight to Istanbul was cancelled due to bad weather in Turkey.

There are icy sections in Varna - mainly in the Primorski region. They are being treated by the companies responsible for the street cleaning in the city. There are wind-blown branches and overturned rubbish bins. The wind has also tilted the roof of the old railway station, but the building has not been used for years. The roads in the area are snow covered and there are some drifts, but the whole road network is open to traffic.

140 snowploughs are clearing the streets in all residential areas of Sofia. Public transport in the capital runs on schedule.

Heavy snowfalls, combined with very strong winds, created conditions for snowdrifts. Expectations for the most snow in the western half of the Danube Plain as well as in the mountainous areas were justified. So far, the thickest snow cover is 29 cm in Lom, (Northern Bulgaria, on the Danube), 17 cm in Vratsa and wind gusts today exceeded 90 km/h in places.

In the coming days the weather will be very cold. We are expecting a long series of icy days, with temperatures staying below zero throughout the day. There will also be many areas with lows below minus 10° and in some places as low as minus 14° to minus 15°.

A slight increase, but only in maximum temperatures, is expected late next week.

Tomorrow, February 6, in addition to a warning of sub-zero temperatures across the country, a yellow code for dangerously windy weather is in effect in the eastern half of Bulgaria and in the mountains.

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