Heavy snow falls brought traffic to a halt across Romania this weekend

Meteorologists say this weekend saw the first real snow fall reported in Romania for the last two years, with snow affecting most of the country. While this comes as good news for mountain resorts that have opened a majority of ski slopes, traffic was brought to a complete halt this weekend and several people died in accidents.

According to Romanian newspaper Evenimentul Zilei, the most serious problems were reported on national roads in southern and central Romania. On the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti highway in south Romania alone some 25 accidents were reported on Sunday afternoon.

Heavy snow in Bucharest

At winter’s peak, several cars crash due to the new weather conditions on the roads: low visibility and slippery roads. All regions in Romania are under heavy snow and several people died in accidents.

Heavy snow falls and temperatures below zero were reported in Italy as well, where Romanian immigrants were caught by surprise in improvised shelters, France Press informs. Civil protection units were helping some 300 Romanian and African workers in rural Italy who were especially affected by cold and snow falls.

According to Italian meteorologists, current conditions will stay until Wednesday at least.