Eleven Bulgarian regions are under code yellow Saturday, the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) announced.

The warning is issued over the forecast of heavy snow and ice. Code yellow means potentially dangerous weather, where the forecast is not for unusual meteorological events, but requires people to exercise caution.

The regions under code yellow are Smolyan, Kardzhali, Yambol, Haskovo, Sliven, Burgas, Targovishte, Razgrad, Shumen, Varna and Dobrich. At many places the snowfall will be accompanied by wind gusts.

Snow is falling in the capital Sofia, and traffic is impeded in many locations, including central boulevards and streets. The City Hall's services have cleaned three times already the main roads and those used by public transportation, which is running without significant delays.

In the Region of Sofia, the "Hemus" highway, connecting Sofia and the Black Sea city of Varna, will be periodically closed for traffic in order to clean the road. The Luylin highway will be closed as well for the same reason.

The road surfaces on "Trakia," "Hemus," and "Maritsa" highways in southern Bulgaria are wet. Rain is reported in northwestern Bulgaria.

Tractor-trailers are banned in mountain passes, while all vehicles traveling there are required to have tire chains.

The Road Infrastructure Agency and traffic police are advising drivers to be prepared for winter conditions, including icy roads and snow drifts, use caution and avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.