Bulgaria issues weather warnings over snowfall and rain forecast for Christmas Day
Bulgaria’s national meteorological bureau has issued the Code Orange warning of dangerous weather for several districts for December 25 because of forecast heavy snowfall and rain.
The districts subject to the Code Orange warning for Christmas Day are Plovdiv, Pazardzhik, Smolyan, Kurdzhali, Haskovo, Vidin, Montana and Gabrovo.
All other districts in Bulgaria are subject to the lesser Code Yellow warning of potentially dangerous weather for December 25, because of forecast snowfall and rain.
The meteorological bureau said that overnight into December 25, the rain in the north-western parts of Bulgaria, the Fore-Balkans and in high altitudes in western Bulgaria would turn into snow.
There will be snowdrifts and blizzards along the mountain passes of the Stara Planina.
On December 25, snow will also fall in the central parts of northern Bulgaria and Ludogorie.
There will be snowdrifts and snow cover on the high mountain roads of southern Bulgaria. In the remaining regions, the precipitation will be rain.
In the central northern and northeastern parts of the country, it is possible that ice will form, the bureau said.
In many places, mainly in the western half of the country, significant amounts of precipitation are expected. A moderate and strong wind will blow from the east-northeast.
Minimum temperatures in most places will be between minus 1° and 4° Celsius. During the day, the cold snap will continue and temperatures at 2pm on December 25 will range from minus 4° in the northwestern regions to 5°–7° in the southeastern ones.
In Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, the temperature will range from 0°-2°.
It will be cloudy in the mountains and with heavy snowfall. Moderate and strong winds will blow from the east-southeast. Blizzards and snowdrifts along the passes are possible. The maximum temperature at an altitude of 1200 metres will be about minus 1°, and at 2000 metres, about minus 3°.
It will be cloudy and rainy along the Black Sea coast. Strong winds will blow from the northeast. Maximum temperatures will be 7°-9°. The sea water temperature is 11°-12°.
(Photo: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
