Heavy snowfall and torrential rain have left 200,000 homes across Romania without electricity, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan confirmed Wednesday.
The severe weather has caused widespread disruption, blocking traffic on motorways and national roads, and delaying dozens of train services.
The capital, Bucharest, grappled with 40 cm (16 inches) of snow, severely impacting public transport.
The national emergency response agency reported fallen trees halted road and rail traffic, schools closed in several towns, and ten ambulances were snowed in across six counties.
“Of the 200,000 homes affected so far, roughly 86,000 were reconnected to power, there are … 266 towns affected,” Ivan told reporters.
He added Romania’s power consumption was 7.4GW on average, with surplus wind and hydro production being exported. Production and consumption were up 11% and 6% on the year, respectively, he said.
It comes following heavy snowfall across Europe.
France is currently grappling with heavy snowfall in the Alps and flooding in several western regions after days of intense rain.
Two separate avalanches in the French Alps killed three people and left four wounded, local authorities and French media said on Tuesday.
Around midday on Tuesday, a large slide, about 300 metres wide, swept across a road and a footpath in the town of Valloire, southeast France, the prefecture of Savoie said in a statement.
Rescue teams, including mountain police officers, firefighters, dog units and army specialists, were deployed for more than four hours before operations were halted in the late afternoon due to the risk of further avalanches, the prefecture added.
Two of the wounded were in serious condition and were evacuated by helicopter to nearby hospitals, it said.
French broadcaster BFMTV also reported, citing the prosecutor in the town of Gap, that two skiers had died earlier in an off‑piste avalanche in La Grave in the neighbouring Hautes‑Alpes region.
Weather forecaster Meteo France said Savoie remained on orange avalanche alert for Tuesday, but flagged an improvement in the coming days.
Last Friday, three skiers died after being swept away in an avalanche in the upmarket French Alpine ski resort of Val d’Isere.