Thousands of people have been left without electricity across the Western Balkans after early snowfall brought widespread disruption on Friday.
Heavy, wet snow blanketed hilly and mountainous regions of Serbia and Bosnia this week, felling power distribution lines and trees. Meanwhile, persistent rainfall in lower areas has raised concerns of potential floods and mudslides.
More than half a metre of snow has already accumulated at higher altitudes, with meteorologist Slobodan Sovilj from the state Hydrometeorological Service suggesting it could reach record levels for October.
“We have a number of areas without electricity because of broken trees and branches that fell on power lines,” Aleksandar Mitrovic, head of the Ivanjica municipality in central Serbia, said.
The southwestern municipalities of Medvedja and Crna Trava were left also without drinking water and phone connection, officials there said.
Several municipalities in Serbia passed emergency measures to deal with the problems caused by the snow.
In Bosnia, a number of roads were closed Friday because of the snow. Authorities warned drivers to be extra careful and reminded them to switch to winter tires, which are obligatory from Nov. 1.
The Jahorina ski center outside Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo turned white after the snowfall that began Thursday, catching visitors by surprise.
“We came here in flip-flops and now we need boots and jackets,” Sandra Majstorovic, a tourist at the center, said.
Experts say that extreme weather conditions, such as unseasonably hot or cold spells, can be linked to climate change.
In September, the Western Balkans experienced temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). Temperatures over the summer surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) during heat waves.
Meanwhile, in the UK, a weather warning has been issues of strong winds as Storm Amy comes in.
Yellow weather warnings are in place for much of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with Storm Amy also due to bring high winds and rain to the rest of the UK into the weekend.
As the first named storm of the season sweeps in from the Atlantic, schools in Northern Ireland have closed early and ferry sailings from the west of Scotland have been cancelled.
Heavy rain and strong winds of up to 100mph are expected in exposed coastal areas on Friday.
A yellow weather warning for rain covers western Scotland and Northern Ireland from noon.
The wet and windy conditions are expected to spread south later in the day, with all of the UK including southern England covered by yellow warnings for Saturday.
