Update - Blizzard hits southeastern Romania: Roads closed, trains cancelled, flights delayed, schools closed

Update (Sunday, January 17, 17:30): Abut 16 national roads in southeastern Romanian and the A2 highway were still closed on Sunday afternoon due to the snow and blizzard. Many secondary (county) roads in the affected region were also closed and tens of villages didn’t have electricity as the weather affected the power distribution grid in several counties. Tens of thousands of households had no electricity. Bucharest’s Henri Coanda International Airport remained open through the day, but three flights to Istanbul, Moscow, and Milan have been cancelled. Other flights had delays of up to two hours because of the airplane defrosting operations. Romania’s Education Ministry has decided to close the schools in Bucharest and six other counties on Monday, due to the bad weather. --- The blizzard hit Romania’s southeastern part on Sunday morning affecting all traffic. Several important roads have been closed, including the A2 highway connecting the capital Bucharest to the Black Sea port of Constanta, and the DN2 national road going from Bucharest to Buzau and the Moldova region. Updates about closed roads are available here. The visibility on the A2 highway this morning was under 50 meters. The railway traffic in this part of the country was also affected. Several trains going from Bucharest to Constanta and from Constanta to Buzau have been cancelled. Other trains have delays of up to two hours because of the difficult conditions. Bucharest’s Henri Coanda International Airport is functional, but some flights are delayed by up to an hour. More information about flights is available here. Romania’s southern region has been under code yellow for snowfall since Saturday evening. The capital Bucharest and 11 other counties in southeastern Romania are under code orange for blizzard, as the wind is expected to blow with more than 70-80 kilometers per hour in some areas, carrying the snow. Update – Winter returns to Romania this weekend: code orange for blizzard in Bucharest editor@romania-insider.com