Bulgaria’s continuing heatwave: Dangerous weather warnings, wildfires and restrictions on lorries
For the latest consecutive day, every district in Bulgaria is subject to the Code Orange warning of dangerous weather on July 14 as temperatures continue to soar.
The continuously high temperatures have led to the issuing of a Code Red for the danger of fires for 21 districts in northern and southern Bulgaria, and a Code Orange fire risk warning for districts in central and eastern Bulgaria, even as July 12 already had seen dozens of outbreaks of fires in various parts of Bulgaria.
Photo: Interior Ministry
Teams from Bulgaria’s military and two Air Force helicopters were deployed to assist in firefighting, the Defence Ministry said on July 13.
Photos: Ministry of Defence
On July 13 and 14, orders were issued to restrict the movement of vehicles of more than 20 tons in various parts of the country because of the high temperatures.
On July 14, from 1pm to 9pm, the movement of lorries will be restricted in sections of roads in the districts of Rousse, Shoumen, Veliko Turnovo, Turgovishte, Razgrad and Silistra, the Road Infrastructure Agency said.
The restriction does not apply to motor vehicles transporting perishable food, temperature controlled goods, live animals and dangerous goods, the agency said.
The forecast maximum temperature for July 14 for Sandanski is 42 degrees Celsius.
On Sunday, Rousse, Vidin and Pleven are set for 40 deg C, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo, Yambol and Blagoevgrad 39 deg C, Shoumen and Kurdzhali 38 deg C, capital city Sofia 36 deg C, and on the Black Sea, Varna 34 deg C and Bourgas 32 deg C.
Bulgarian National Radio reported on July 13 that Bulgaria’s all-time record for electricity consumption of three years ago is expected to be broken on the evening of July 18, when the heat will push the grid load to over 5300 megawatts.
This is according to the forecasts of the Electricity System Operator, which told BNR that Bulgaria’s energy system was working normally and has enough capacity to meet the increased electricity consumption resulting from the extremely high temperatures.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
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