site.btaUPDATED Heavy Snow Closes Roads in Parts of Bulgaria

Heavy rain and snow in parts of Bulgaria on Friday and Saturday caused traffic problems and other disruptions. Hundreds of snow-clearing vehicles were sent to process road surfaces.

In the south of the country, the mountain passes of Predela, Prevala, Rozhen and Pechinsko were closed on Saturday morning to trucks with gross weight of over 12 tonnes. In Central Bulgaria, the Troyanski Pass was closed to all vehicles.

The authorities of North Macedonia closed the border with Bulgaria at Gyueshevo to over-12-tonne vehicles due to intense snowfall. Traffic restrictions were also in place in other highland areas in Bulgaria's interior.

Dislodged trees obstructed traffic on a number of roads. Measures were taken to clear them.

Rail traffic between the southwestern villages of Tsvetino and Avramovo was disrupted after tree branches fell on the track. Trains in this part of the country were delayed by up to 5 hours.

Between 8 am on Friday and 8 am on Saturday the emergency response centre in Sofia received 201 alerts about incidents, including 28 reports about fallen branches and trees. Other alerts concerned flooding and ice on surfaces.

Electricity supply issues were reported in some winter resorts. Rescuers cautioned people against going high up in the mountains unless they followed marked paths. The snow formed a thick cover at elevations of over 1,500 m above sea level. Conditions were dynamic, with fog at higher altitudes and wind at lower points. The ski runs in Mt Vitosha near Sofia were inaccessible as the snow cover reached between 60 cm and 70 cm thick.

The water level in the Iskar River at the Sofia suburb of Novi Iskar rose by 22 cm, reaching 70 cm. No overflowing occurred.

Efforts in Western Bulgaria to repair damage  caused by the snowfall on Saturday continued through the night by ERM Zapad teams, the company's press centre reported. The electricity supply to the majority of the affected household customers has been restored, but there are still consumers without electricity in separate settlements from the municipalities of Kyustendil, Trun, Troyan, Ihtiman, Samokov and settlements near Pancharevo, which are powered through hard-to-reach high mountain power lines.