Five frozen to death as Balkan countries endure cold snap

At least five were dead amid a Balkans cold snap that included a massive blizzard in Bulgaria and Serbia, authorities said on Tuesday.

The interior ministry's emergency situations department said in Belgrade that three people were found frozen to death in Bulgaria, along with two in Serbia.

It said this followed the storm which struck over the weekend, bringing deep subzero temperatures, massive snowfall and gale force wind.

Local media reported in south-west Bulgaria, hundreds of cars were stranded in the snow on impassable roads and thousands of households were left without electricity in the area of Vidin.

Several roads in Serbia were also impassable, with the wind creating drifts standing more than 2 metres in the north-east. Some villages lost power.

In Macedonia, the temperature plummeted to 20 below zero in some areas.

The power supply in some remote areas was also down.

``In Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Mountain Rescue Service released to the media a survival manual for people in isolated areas, advising them of what to do in case they must venture outside.

``In Croatia, the lowest recorded temperature was 17 degrees Celsius, in the West.

``In the Adriatic port of Split, the temperature dropped below the freezing point for the first time in 651 days,’’ meteorologists said.

However, the weather is expected to remain very cold, with snowstorms forecast in the region during the first week of 2015.