Bulgaria faces an Orthodox Easter long weekend of light rain, heavy traffic
Bulgaria is heading for a four-day Orthodox Easter weekend from April 6 to 9 2018 that will see rainy and cloudy weather in several parts of the country.
Weather forecasters said that most of the rainfall will be on Friday, with thunderstorms, mainly in western Bulgaria. It will rain in southern Bulgaria on Saturday, they said.
Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia is expected to begin the weekend with rain on Friday and Saturday, with maximum temperatures of 12 degrees Celsius on both days, followed by partly cloudy weather and a high of 16 degrees on Sunday, and cloudy weather with a high of 19 degrees on April 9.
There will be light rain in Plovdiv on Friday, with a high of 17 degrees, followed by maximum temperatures of 16 to 19 degrees over the next three days, with partly cloudy weather.
Rain is not forecast for Bulgaria’s Black Sea cities of Varna and Bourgas over the long weekend. Varna will see cloudy to partly cloudy weather, with maximum temperatures of 15 to 16 degrees. Bourgas will begin the weekend with 13 degrees and end it with 12 degrees and sunny weather.
As to Bulgaria’s three major ski resorts, Bansko will see highs of 15 to 20 degrees with rain, Borovets rain with maximums of five to 13 degrees and Pamporovo rain with highs of 10 to 14 degrees.
On April 5, the last working day before the Orthodox Easter weekend, there will be restrictions on motor vehicles of more than 12 tons on motorways and the most heavily-used roads from 4pm to 8pm, Bulgaria’s Road Infrastructure Agency said.
Similarly, on April 9, there will also be restrictions on heavy vehicles from 2pm to 8pm. The agency said that the ban would not apply to vehicles carrying perishable food, temperature-controlled goods, livestock and dangerous goods.
The agency called on motorists to drive carefully and at reasonable speeds.
Traffic police said that about 150 000 cars were expected to head out of Sofia on April 5.
Two exit lanes would be open out of the capital city on April 5, and on April 9, two entry lanes from 10am to 4pm.
The Road Infrastructure Agency said that during the Easter holiday, road repair work would be suspended to ease the flow of traffic. Work would be done only if it was urgent or there was an emergency, the agency said.
Ahead of the Easter weekend, firefighters and police have carried out safety checks at churches and other places where people are expected to gather in large numbers.
(Photo: Vickie Mathews/freeimages.com)
