Code yellow has been declared for 17 Bulgarian regions Saturday over the forecast for gusty winds.

The forecast has been issued by the Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BAS.

Code yellow means potentially dangerous weather, where the forecast is not for unusual meteorological events, but requires people to exercise caution.

It is effective for the regions of Vidin, Montana, Vratsa, Pleven and Lovech in northwestern Bulgaria, Veliko Tarnovo in central Bulgaria, Ruse, Targovishte, Razgrad, Silistra, Shumen, Dobrich and Varna in northeastern Bulgaria, and Sliven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Pazardzhik in the south.

It will be partly cloudy, but without precipitations, and relatively warm – the minimum temperatures will be over 0 degrees C – between 1 and 6, while the maximum – between 9 and 14, and even up to 16 in southwestern Bulgaria. In the capital Sofia, the mercury will reach the 10 degrees C mark.

There is also real threat of wide-spread floods in Bulgaria over the expected snowmelt, experts alarm. Northwestern Bulgaria will be affected the most because the melt will be faster over strong western winds.

Levels of rivers Timok, Ogosta, Struma, Mesta, Maritsa and Arda are all expected to rise significantly.

The warmer weather next week will also contribute to the reduction of the ice float on the Danube river.

Damage from the flood in the southern village of Biser on February 6 is estimated at over BGN 3 M – 55 houses have been destroyed in Biser and the nearby village of Leshnikovo after the cracked wall of the Ivanovo dam broke and submerged adjacent areas.

The amount, however, does not include the damage to the infrastructure, such as the railroad, the roads and the bridges.

The floods in southeastern Bulgaria took ten victims. The cabinet declared February 8 a national day of mourning for the victims.

Meanwhile, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, UNISDR, warned that parts of Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Bulgaria and Serbia, are under the serious threat of destruction and casualties over forthcoming floods caused by mass snowmelt.