School was canceled for a third day in a row on Wednesday, January 29, after a snow wave hit Romania and paralyzed traffic in certain areas of the country. The 'school out' decision is valid for Bucharest and 18 counties, namely Argeş, Bacău, Brăila, Buzău, Călăraşi, Constanţa, Dâmboviţa, Dolj, Galaţi, Giurgiu, Ilfov, Ialomiţa, Prahova, Olt, Tulcea, Teleorman, Vâlcea and Vrancea.

The three school free days will be recovered probably during week-ends throughout the school year.

All universities in Bucharest and these 18 counties were also closed on Wednesday, January 29, as meteorologists warned a second wave of snow and blizzards was coming Romania's way.

For the counties of Vaslui and Iasi, only schools in rural areas were closed. In the counties of Braşov, Covasna, Gorj and Mehedinţi schools will however be open.

The Education Ministry advises students to check with their universities, as they are autonomous in deciding how many off days they offer students. The University in Bucharest for example decided to cancel courses on Wednesday and Thursday, January 29 and 30.

Bucharest and 14 counties in the south of Romania are under a Code Orange for blizzard on Wednesday, January 29. A Code Yellow was issues for ten other counties.

The Code Orange is valid for Ilfov, Giurgiu, Prahova, Teleorman, Călăraşi, Ialomiţa, Constanţa, Tulcea, Brăila, Buzău, Vrancea, Galaţi and the southern parts of Arges and Dambovita.

The Code Yellow is valid for Vaslui, Bacău, Covasna, Braşov, Vâlcea, Olt, Gorj, Dolj, Mehedinţi, and the northern parts of Argeş and Dâmboviţa.

Temperatures are also expected to go down significantly below freeze level on Thursday and Friday, January 30 and 31, in eastern, south and central Romania.

editor@romania-insider.com