Harsh cold weather in Slovakia with night temperatures falling as low as minus 23 C has caused difficulties mainly in the northern portions of central and eastern Slovakia. These territories also face the dangers of ice floods and are under a first-level severe weather alert. The Slovak Road Administration warns of the risk of black ice on roads and fog with visibility as low as 100 metres in the eastern Slovak Kosice region in particular.
Water bird counts in January tallied fewer water birds than usual, SOS/BirdLife's Jozef Ridzon informed the TASR press agency. Record-low levels indicate that the uncharacteristically harsh winter has driven birds away from the cold areas near rivers and other expanses of water. On the flip side, higher tallies have been recorded for some more resilient species. Over 200 ornithologists took to the wild along 2,000 kilometres of river bank and lake shore to conduct the water bird census earlier this month.
The ongoing frost was one of the reasons why the Slovak Hydro-Meteorological Institute issued a first level smog warning for central and eastern regions earlier this week. The smog has been present here even today. The primary reasons for Slovakia's current high levels of air pollution are the use of wood and coal for heating, as well as a significantly higher number of petrol and diesel-powered cars on the roads.
Although severe cold slows the spread of various viruses, Slovakia is recording a gradual increase in influenza cases. According to reports in the Pravda daily, the flu is causing certain hospitals to experience problems in keeping up their flow of operations. Moreover, patients at this time of the year can suffer from severe acute respiratory infections. The disease requires hospitalisation and can be life-threatening for some patients. Last week, doctors recorded almost 10 thousand people with flu, whereas in the same period in 2016, there were only over 4 thousand such patients. Meanwhile, as many as 109 nursery, primary and secondary schools were closed last week due large numbers of ill pupils.
