The Bulgarian State-owned railways BDZ are asking their customers to avoid travel unless there is an absolute emergency.

The BDZ schedule has experienced disruptions and delays in the last two days over the snow fall and at some locations in the country there are no trains because tracks are covered with snow.

Twenty six Bulgarian regions are under code yellow Saturday over snow and freezing cold, the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) announced.

Only the regions of Kyustendil and Blagoevgrad are under code green.

The blizzards, which hit hard Bulgaria, blocking highways and leaving thousands of people without electricity, will be tailing off only to be replaced by polar cold next week.

The country is expected to witness an historic cold snap over the next week, recording a wind chill of 20 degrees Celsius below zero, according to TV-MET forecasts.

About 53 000 customers of the Power Utility CEZ, serving western and southwestern Bulgaria, are without electricity over the heavy snowfall, the company announces.

In exception of Sofia, the entire territory served by CEZ is experiencing interruptions in the power supply. The worse affected are small villages, where access is very difficult.