SOFIA, Jan 2, 2008 (AFP) - Heavy snowfall and strong winds forced Bulgarian authorities Wednesday to close down major Black Sea ports and cancel a number of flights from the country's two biggest airports, authorities said. Varna and Burgas were closed to all ships due to the bad weather, officials in the two Black Sea ports told AFP by telephone. At Sofia airport, at least 18 flights were cancelled and many more delayed, while Bulgaria's second biggest airport in the central city of Plovdiv was temporarily shut down, national radio reported. Traffic through most of the country's Balkan mountain passes was completely blocked by heavy snow and travelling was severely disrupted on the two major highways crossing the country, reports said. "There are no regions in a state of emergency but the situation is complicated," the director of rescue services Andrey Ivanov told national radio. At least 58 villages across the country were left without electricity, he added. Heavy snowfall was forecast to continue throughout the week, prompting mountain rescue services to issue alerts about the heightened risk of avalanches in winter resorts.
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