BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A heavy storm with strong winds, hail and rain has hit the Balkans as the weather changed on Monday following a week of record-high temperatures in the region and elsewhere in Europe.
Temperatures dropped significantly in some areas, bringing relief after reaching more than 40 C (104 F) last week.
Slovenia’s STA news agency reported that the storms “caused havoc” across the country overnight Sunday to Monday.
Thousands of households were left without electricity, as hail and winds flooded dozens of houses, collapsed trees and damaged cars and crops and crops.
In Serbia, sudden heavy rains hit a mountainous region in the west late Monday before spreading to other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, officials in neighboring Romania retrieved the bodies of two teenage boys who drowned while bathing in a river to cool off during the heat wave.
Officials in the northeast county of Neamt said they pulled out the bodies of a 15-year-old on Sunday and a 16-year-old on Monday morning. They had been swimming in the Siret river.
Emergency services spokesman Adrian Rotaru said that “these teens went into the river to cool off due to the heat wave…. we do not recommend bathing in unsupervised areas.”
Romania also has been in the grips of a heat wave for the past week with temperatures reaching 42 C (107.6 F) in recent days. Officials say at least two people died last week.
In Croatia’s Istria peninsula, stormy winds late Sunday uprooted trees and damaged roofs. Temporary traffic restrictions were imposed in some areas along the Adriatic coast late Sunday and early Monday.
A wildfire broke out Monday in the coastal Makarska area of central Croatia despite the cooling trend, engulfing pine trees and low shrubbery and halting traffic on a key road.
Authorities briefly halted traffic on the main road along the coast, sending travelers to smaller routes. They say a firefighting plane has been engaged to help put out the blaze.
Dozens of wildfires have erupted in Croatia and elsewhere in Europe during an extremely hot and dry summer.
Meteorologists say the heat wave will return later in the week.
