Half of Romania was placed under yellow weather alerts on Sunday as torrential rain, thunderstorms and hail lashed dozens of towns, cutting power, blocking roads and triggering landslides. The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) issued a fresh yellow alert at noon, warning of “significant instability, heavy downpours and strong winds” until 21:00 on Sunday, with up to 50 litres per square metre possible in less than an hour—roughly half a month’s rainfall in a single burst .
Civil-protection officials said 39 settlements in 12 counties, including Bucharest, had already reported flooding, road closures or structural damage by Sunday morning. In Vaslui county, entire villages lost electricity after lightning strikes, while a landslide in Prahova blocked access to one commune and left six villages in Buzău county cut off .
ANM director Elena Mateescu told Digi24 that the pattern mirrors last week’s violent storms, which killed two people and left swathes of the country under water. “Episodes of severe weather will continue locally, with very high rainfall rates in short periods,” she said. Forecasters expect the worst-hit areas to shrink from Monday, but warn that further episodes could bring “significant precipitation” within hours .
The storms have also disrupted agriculture. Farmers say the unseasonably cold, wet spell has delayed the harvest of home-grown watermelons by two weeks, cutting expected yields and pushing prices higher just as the fruit normally hits markets .
Across Central and Eastern Europe, similar conditions prevailed. Ukraine’s meteorological service forecast moderate rain and thunderstorms nationwide except the east, with hail and wind gusts of 15–20 m/s possible . Poland’s Institute of Meteorology and Water Management issued first-degree alerts for severe storms in seven central and northern voivodeships, while Germany’s Berlin and Brandenburg regions braced for showers and lightning after temperatures reached 24 °C .
Meteorologists attribute the volatile pattern to a slow-moving frontal system drawing moist air from the Mediterranean, a setup that is expected to ease only gradually. In Romania, authorities have urged residents to avoid travel, secure loose objects and monitor local civil-protection updates as the yellow alert remains in force until at least Monday evening .
Half of Romania hit by torrential rain, hail, and landslides: 39 towns cut off