Heavy snow and rain in Romania cut power to 200,000 homes, disrupt traffic and trains, with Bucharest hit by 40 cm snowfall

BUCHAREST: Heavy snow and rain across Romania left 200,000 homes ⁠without electricity on Wednesday, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan ​said, with traffic blocked ‌on motorways and national ​roads and dozens of trains delayed.

Public transport in the capital, ​Bucharest, was struggling under 40 cm (16 inches) ⁠of ‌snow. ​Fallen trees ​halted road and rail traffic, ​schools closed in several towns and 10 ambulances in six counties were snowed in, the ‌national emergency response agency said.

“Of the 200,000 homes affected so far, roughly 86,000 were reconnected to power, there ⁠are … ‌266 towns affected,” Ivan told reporters.

He added Romania’s power consumption was ​7.4GW on average, with surplus wind ​and ​hydro production being ‌exported. Production and ​consumption were up 11% and 6% on the year, respectively, he said.

 The Sun Malaysia