BRATISLAVA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Heavy snowfalls which started from the beginning of January hit Slovakia in its third wave, with several places in western and northern Slovakia declared state of emergency, and the worst situation being in the capital and its surroundings on Tuesday.
Slovak Hydrometeorological Office warned early on Tuesday about ice and snow on the streets and roads in western Slovakia. Public transport has recorded delays, mainly in the hilly parts of Bratislava.
"The buses and trolleybuses have 30-60 minutes delays," stressed the spokesperson of Transport company of Bratislava Adriana Volfova.
Due to the heavy snowfall at Bratislava Airport, three Ryanair arrivals from London-Stansted, Birmingham and Marrakech had been diverted to Budapest.
"The snowfall is so strong that the braking effects are not satisfactory at main take-off runway," said Veronika Sevcikova, spokesperson of the airport.
Seven municipalities in northern Slovakia have declared state of emergency due to snowfall.
"As a result of bad weather conditions and heavy snowfall, accidents were taking place on the roads, with traffic jams. Several municipalities had difficulty removing snow for road traffic," said Lubomir Holly, head of crisis management at the district office in Zilina.
