Extreme weather in Romania

After a month of abrupt temperature variations, summer made a forceful start, with storms and temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.

Mihai Pelin, 05.06.2024, 13:50

Several parts of the country have been under code red alerts for storms early this week. Heavy downpours within short periods of time, strong wind and hailstorms have caused serious damage, and calls were made to the emergency number 112 especially in the centre of the country.

In Alba County, the bad weather caused flash floods and left thousands of people without electricity in several towns and villages, while railway traffic between Braşov and Sighişoara was disrupted for hours after a fir tree fell on the rail tracks. The roofs of scores of houses were affected by storms, and households were flooded. In Odorheiu Secuiesc, hundreds of trees were torn down, damaging houses and vehicles, for which people have already applied for reparations.

The head of the National Meteorology Administration, Elena Mateescu, explained that such occurrences are favoured by the very high temperatures reported over the past few days, entailing severe heat stress.

Elena Mateescu: “It is a summer during which we will certainly be speaking about such occurrences quite frequently, especially in June, which is traditionally the month with most precipitations during the year. Rain is good. Definitely, storms and hailstorms are less good, but the precipitations during this period should meet the water needs of large areas, especially in the eastern part of the country, which is currently hit by severe, indeed extreme drought. The weekend will once again see rising temperatures, reaching 35-36 degrees Celsius, and the same temperatures will likely be reported early next week as well, especially on Wednesday. The updated forecasts for June point to a good probability that each week will see higher temperatures than usual.”

A heat wave holds the country in its grasp these days, with deepening heat stress and a temperature-humidity index reaching a critical 80 units. In fact, the temperature will be higher than normal throughout the month, including at night time, with Romania close to having tropical nights of 20 degrees Celsius. At the same time, weather instability will be significant, with heavy rainfalls, thunderstorms, strong wind and hail. According to meteorologists, the highs could exceed 37 degrees Celsius in the coming days. (AMP)