Sudden heavy snow slowing down traffic on Tuesday morning ({{commentsTotal}})

Traffic is slow all across northern Estonia this morning as heavy snow is making for difficult conditions. Winter maintenance services are struggling to keep roads and city streets open, with the sheer amount of new snow making it difficult to move for public transport, cars and pedestrians alike. The snowy weather is forecast to continue throughout the day.

While Tallinn's main streets and access roads were cleared early in the morning, side streets and smaller roads in the countryside are still covered in some 20 cm of new snow, with strong wind continuously blowing more snow onto roads.

"Road conditions are difficult," Prefect Kristjan Jaani of the Police and Border Guard's North Prefecture said on social media on Tuesday morning. "Our own cars couldn't get out of the yard in Keila this morning, we had to shovel [snow]. Some cars are stuck in Tallinn and slowing down traffic. According to our partners all snowploughs are out and at work."

The police are regulating traffic flows in some places, and at the time there isn't a single place where conditions would be good, Mr Jaani added. "Especially on side roads there is currently a real danger of getting stuck," he said.

While there was heavy snowfall in northern Estonia, there was rain in the southern part of the country last night, the Environment Agency reported on Tuesday morning. Temperatures dropped below zero in several areas, which means there are parts of the country where conditions are icy this morning as well.

Wind speed in northern Estonia is 4-9 m/s, with gusts of up to 12 m/s. Along the coast, the wind may reach speeds of up to 15-18 m/s, the agency said.

The forecast for Tuesday is overcast weather with more snow and rain, with slightly better conditions in the western part of the country towards the evening. Temperatures range from -2°C to 4°C, dropping to between -1°C and -5°C in the afternoon. The police are asking drivers to be specially cautious today.

Editor: Dario Cavegn

