Heavy snowfalls and strong winds have continued to cause a range of issues in Serbia throughout last week. The situation is now worst in Crna Trava Municipality, in south-east Serbia. During the last 24 hours alone there has been 30 cm (12 in) of snow in the area, and the bad weather has been persistent for 10 days now. Around 200 households have been left without electric power, but its supply is supposed to be re-established today. Some 100 km (60 mi) of local roads are completely impassable. Cleaning them is next to impossible because the snow keeps falling. Officials have decided to postpone the second term in schools, which is due to begin today in other parts of the country, as it is believed the 250 students from the region would not be safe on the roads.

The Sjenica Municipality, about which we have reported last week, has seen the situation improve significantly as all of its regional roads have been cleaned. Still, some of the local ones remain under snow. The problems with water and electricity supply in villages around Sjenica, Nova Varoš (pictured above) and Prijepolje have been largely resolved. However, the temperatures there have been as low as -20 °C (-4 °F). While cold weather in this region is not that unusual, the amount of precipitation in the south-east Serbia is significantly larger than the average values.

Photo: TANJUG/Željko Dulanović