Snow wreaks havoc across parts of Europe by Steph Ball
An intense winter storm wreaked havoc across parts of Europe on Thursday, leaving Bulgaria, Romania and parts of Turkey and Greece under a blanket of snow. Closer to home, parts of the UK also experienced their first significant snow of the winter.
Authorities in northeast Bulgaria declared a state of emergency yesterday, calling in the army to help clear roads and rescue stranded motorists. As the snow piled up thousands of travellers were left stranded at airports and in cars as the country’s roads became blocked.
Thousands of passengers were also left stranded in Romania after Bucharest's two main airports were closed down by the heavy snowfalls. The snow also spread south into northern Greece and Turkey, causing traffic jams in Turkey’s capital, Ankara. Meanwhile further west across Europe, ice and snow caused problems too in Italy and France, prompting the closure of the Mont-Blanc tunnel linking both countries.
At home in the UK, snow also blanketed large parts of Northern England and Scotland on Thursday, while some unexpectedly heavy snowfalls across Northern Ireland caused chaos. Drifting snow quickly made roads impassable with thousands also left without power.
In Northern Ireland and northeast England there were also reports of the rare phenomenon “thundersnow”. Of course thunder can often be associated with storms, but it rarely occurs when the precipitation falls as snow.
While further snow can be expected for a time in Northern Ireland and Scotland today, conditions across the UK are set to turn milder over the next 24hrs.
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