Romania shivers under snow and blizzard alert until Sunday evening

Newsroom 03/02/2012 | 18:04

The yellow alert for snow and blizzard has been prolonged until Sunday evening at 20:00. It will snow countrywide and snow thickness is expected to exceed locally 20 cm especially in the hills and mountains area.

In the south and south-eastern regions the wind will blow at 50-60 km/h, and in the mountains area it will reach 90 km/h, dispelling snow. On Saturday morning sleet and rain could occur in southern and central regions, turning the roads icy.

Traffic is blocked on several national roads this Friday, as well as on the A1 and A2 highways according to Mediafax newswire.The police recommend drivers to check before leaving whether their route is open for traffic and to heave their cars equipped for winter conditions.

Representatives of the Romanian Meteorological Agency (ANM) have denied rumors that a code red alert for heavy snow will be issued. Despite this, hundreds of Bucharesters and people countrywide have gone shopping for supplies, many fearing that snow could reach the record levels set in the winter of 1954 when the capital was covered by snow that exceeded 2m.

Ion Sandu, the director of ANM said that the weather is normal for this time of the year and that extreme snow falls are not expected, at least not over this weekend and it is too early to make safe predictions for the next week.