Icy weather closes roads, disrupts rail and air traffic in Romania

The bad weather in Romania closed national roads and a segment of the Bucharest-Constanta highway (A2) on Friday morning, while also affecting the rail and air traffic. Freezing rain has led to the closing of several national roads on Friday morning, and of the Bucharest-Drajna segment of the A2 highway. At 10:20 AM, the Romanian Police’s Info Traffic announced that the traffic was closed on DN22D between Horia and Ciucurova (in Tulcea county) and on DN 67C between Novaci and Rânca. Also, it said that weight restrictions (7.5 tons) were in place on DN2C (between Amara and the border with Buzau county), and on DN2B (on the segment Buzau – the border with Braila county) and DN2C (Costesti – the border with Ialomita county). Meanwhile, the rail traffic has also been affected by the winter conditions. The traffic on the railway section 202, between Strambuta (Hunedoara county) and Pietrele Albe (Gorj county), was closed on Friday morning while trains entering the capital had some restrictions due to a thin layer of ice on the contact lines, local Mediafax reported. Also, six flights that were supposed to land at Bucharest’s Otopeni airport on the night of Thursday to Friday and on Friday morning were canceled due to the bad weather conditions, the Bucharest Airports Company informed, according to Mediafax. Some flights were still registering delays on Friday. Their schedule can be checked here. The icy weather also affected the traffic in Bucharest. For example, the trams running on Line 41 were blocked for a few hours on Friday morning after one the trams derailed, local Hotnews.ro reported. Several trolleybuses were also blocked in the Cotroceni area after the power lines froze. Moreover, over 10 car accidents also occurred in the capital in the last 24 hours due to the icy roads, and dozens of people went to the emergency hospitals with dislocations and fractures. The meteorologists expect the icy weather to continue in Bucharest, forecasting rain, freezing rain and strong wind until Sunday morning, January 26. The temperature is expected to stay between -1 and 1 degree Celsius. newsroom@romania-insider.com (photo source: Facebook / Compania Naţională de Administrare a Infrastructurii Rutiere)