Snow, hail and rain are falling on many roads in Poland, Wednesday, as the winter makes an unwelcome early arrival.
Click on the audio icon to listen to a report by Agnieszka Bielawska.
The rainy aura of western regions will blend into a mix of rain and snow in central districts, while eastern and southern provinces of Poland are coping with the first snowfalls this season.
Noontime mercury highs are to range from barely 1 Celsius in the east to 6 centigrade in the west and coastal north of the country.
Additionally, cold and gusty winds of up to 110 kilometers per hour locally are making life miserable for pedestrians, the chill factor bringing temperature down to the equivalent of minus 8 Celsius!
Night storms have damaged numerous power lines leaving some 40 thousand households without electricity.
Highway servicemen prepared for winter conditions with over 2,000 snowploughs, 100 sanders, 340,000 tonnes of road salt and trucks outfitted with CB radios at the ready, in anticipation of snow, forecasted later this week.
The General Director for the National Roads and Highways (GDDKiA) has announced that highway servicemen are on call to keep 18,000 kilometres of roads throughout Poland free of winter weather conditions.
GDDKiA has estimated spending about 265 million zloty (62.8 million euro) this winter season for clearing roads. (ss/mnj)
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