Bitter cold, snow, rain and strong wind are in the forecast for the following days for Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Macedonia, website netinfo.bg wrote on January 2 2009.

The weekend forecast for Bulgaria foresees snowfalls throughout the entire country, with light north-western winds. Temperatures will drop to between -5 and -10 degrees Celsius, while in southern Bulgaria and the Black Sea region they will reach between -5 and -1. The snow cover is expected to reach 15cm.

In the mountains, the weather will remain cloudy and windy, with scattered snowfall and fog up high. All tourists are advised to strictly follow marked paths and to move from one point to another in daylight.

Danger from falling rocks and landslides have been detected around Iskarsko and Kresnersko Defile, Sofia-Samokov, Mezdra-Botevgrad, Assenovgrad-Smolyan, Yugovo-Luki, Krichim-Devin and around Koznitsa.

The traffic police warned that all lorries must travel with snow chains and without carriages in the section Batak-Dospat, and through Shipka Pass and Petrohan.

The website quoted Greek media reports that in the northern part of the country were to be expected heavy snowfall with temperatures as low as -13 degrees Celsius. Extreme caution on the road and snow chains are highly recommended if travel is hard to avoid.

Temperatures in eastern Turkey were to reach -36 degrees Celsius and heavy snowfall was in store for Sunday January 4. The same is expected for Macedonia, where, at the beginning of next week, temperatures will continue to drop and the snow cover would reach up to 25cm. Roads, however, would remain passable, with only lorries being denied access between Mavrovo and Debar, where roads are snow-packed and slippery, the website reported.