Montenegrin authorities confirmed that an outage that lasted several hours in the country’s power distribution system left almost the entire nation without electricity. There were similar problems off the coast of Croatia, in Bosnia and Albania.
Widespread power outage hits the Balkan region while several countries suffer a heat wave on the eve of summer. A major hour-long blackout affected much of the Balkan countries on Friday, as the southern European region sweltered in an early heat wave that raised temperatures to more than 40 degrees Celsius
Authorities confirm that the outage lasted several hours in the country’s power distribution system and left almost the entire nation without electricitywhile similar problems were reported in the coastal part of Croatiain Bosnia y Albania.
An overloaded network
Nada Pavicevicspokesperson for the state energy distribution company of Montenegrodescribed the blackout as a “regional proportion disturbance” and said authorities were still working to determine what happened.
The exact cause The outage was not immediately clear, as the regional power grid has been overloaded for days due to the excessive consumption and to the use of air-conditioning to combat high temperatures.
Various explanations for the same blackout
Bosnia’s state electricity company said the blackout was caused by problems in one line regional distribution, while Albania’s state electricity company said the “extreme heat” caused the problem.
Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia y Albania They share the coast of Adriatic Sea and the networks electricity in the region continue interconnecteddecades after the Balkan wars in the 1990s.
“The entire electrical grid system of continental Europe is connected, and that sometimes has its advantages but also its defects,” he said Danko Blazevichead of Croatia’s electrical networks.
“The advantage is that you can import, export and sell energy, but the problem is that When there is a failure it spreads from one system to another“he added.
Sarajevo and Dubrovnik, paralyzed
In the capital of Bosnia, Sarajevo, the blackout also caused traffic jams, with trams stopped and traffic lights not working. A similar stalemate was reported in the Croatian port city of Split.
In the Croatian tourist center of Dubrovnikthousands of tourists were stranded in the middle of the afternoon, and restaurants, pubs, supermarkets, ice cream parlors and others closed their doors during the blackout.
Football fans milled around some of the pubs with the television screens turned off, unable to watch the games being played on the screen. Euro Cup football in Germany.
Hello from the Saharan heat
The collapse, which began shortly after noon on Friday, came as authorities across the region warned citizens to be cautious, drink agua y they will avoid the sun due to extremely high temperatures.
“Do not stay in the sun between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.,” warned the Public Health Institute of Serbia in his instructions to citizens. “If you have to go out, bring a bottle of water.”
Forecasters say the heat in the region this week came from Africatransporting sand particles which created a cloud-like layer, and obscured the horizon.
A orange-tinted Saharan calima Athens last April. These are episodes that have, on extreme occasions, reached Scandinavia.
The cement of the cities aggravates the heat
The stifling heat was worse in the big cities, where the concrete sizzled even at night and where the nights offered no real respite as temperatures remained above 20C.
Although hot summers are normal in the Balkanstemperatures generally do not reach such heights in mid-June, prompting weather watches and warnings.
Earlier this week, authorities in North Macedonia They imposed emergency measures until Sunday, after which the heat is expected to subside. This Friday, the authorities of Rumania imposed weight limits on vehicles traveling on national highways in some counties to prevent degradation of road surfaces.
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Rivers as relief
Milos Jeftovicresident of Belgradesaid he is following instructions and taking every opportunity to stay close to the Serbian capital’s two rivers, the Danube and the Sava. The authorities, he explained, should have reduced working hours and parked Tank trucks with water in the streets of the city.
They were also issued weather warnings in the neighbor Croatiaa point of great tourist activitywhere the heat wave peaks this Friday ahead of an expected weather change over the weekend that could bring storms.
Montenegrin Radio Television reported that although residents of Podgoricathe country’s capital, are accustomed to very high temperatures, some complained that the heat started too early in the year.
Experts remember that climate change also causes extreme weather conditions.
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