Snowstorm paralyses northeastern Slovenia

Northeastern Slovenia has been hit by heavy and wet snow, which has caused massive power outages in particular in the Maribor area, as well as disruption to road and rail traffic and damage to trees.

Other parts of the country have also been affected, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

In the northeast, around 40,000 households supplied by the Elektro Maribor distributor and some 8,000 covered by Elektro Celje lost power after it had been snowing since early on 20 February. Power outages have also disrupted drinking water supply and bus services running on electricity.

"The situation on the ground is extreme ... all our teams are on the ready and in contact with civil protection and firefighters," Tatjana Vogrinec Burgar, CEO of Elektro Maribor, told the press.

"The worst thing is that the medium-voltage power lines have failed," she said, asking people to be patient because it could take a while before power supply can be restored.

Power outages have also been reported from some other parts of the country.

Due to the snow and sludge on the roads, driving conditions have been tricky. In some areas traffic is prohibited for trailers and semi-trailers.

In northeastern Slovenia several roads have been blocked by fallen trees and trucks skidding. In some areas traffic jams have formed because of snowplough teams.

On the road from Sotina to the Kuzma border crossing with Austria in the northeast, an estimated 150 trees have fallen on the road.

Fallen trees also disrupted rail traffic on the route between Šentilj and Spielfeld in Austria. Many other train services around the country have faced delays due to the weather.

The Slovenia Forest Service has estimated that snow has damaged 50,000 cubic metres of trees in the Goričko, Haloze, Slovenske Gorice areas, the lower ranges of the Pohorje Massif and Kozjak and Paški Kozjak.

An amber alert has been in force for Koroška, Štajerska and Pomurje due to snow. An avalanche warning is meanwhile in place for the Julian Alps in the northwest.

The snowfall is expected to abate in the afternoon and mostly stop by the evening. This week, the country is expected to see temperatures climb to 15 degrees Celsius.

Photo: Boštjan Podlogar/STA