Storms, hail strike Balkans following record heat wave
BELGRADE, Serbia — A heavy storm with strong winds, hail and rain has hit the Balkans and elsewhere in Europe as the weather changed on Monday following a week of record-high temperatures in the region.
Temperatures dropped significantly in some areas, bringing relief after reaching more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit last week.
Slovenia’s STA news agency reported that the storms “caused havoc” across the country overnight Sunday to Monday.
Thousands of households were left without electricity, as hail and winds flooded dozens of houses, collapsed trees and damaged cars and crops.
In Serbia, sudden heavy rains hit a mountainous region in the west late Monday before spreading to other parts of the country.
On Sunday, two men were killed in separate incidents in northern Italy when strong winds toppled trees that crushed them. In another incident, a hiker slipped to her death from a muddy path. A lightning strike killed a man walking in a forest in a fourth incident Sunday.
Meanwhile, officials in neighboring Romania retrieved the bodies of two teenage boys who drowned while bathing in a river to cool off during the heat wave.
Romanian authorities issued a flood warning for parts of western Romania on Monday after heavy rain following a weeklong heat wave. Officials say at least two people died last week.
In Croatia’s Istria peninsula, stormy winds late Sunday uprooted trees and damaged roofs. Temporary traffic restrictions were imposed in some areas along the Adriatic coast late Sunday and early Monday.
A wildfire broke out Monday in the coastal Makarska area of central Croatia despite the cooling trend, engulfing pine trees and halting traffic on a key road.