Five temperature records have been registered in Bulgaria at 3 pm Saturday over the blasting heat.

The announcement was made by the National Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BAS.

The mercury hit record high in the southern Black Sea town of Ahtopol – 33.4 degrees Celsius (the last record was in 1988 – 31.8C), the Black Sea city of Varna – 34.2C (the last record was in 1968 – 33.3C), the capes of Emine – 35C (33.2C in 1988) and Kaliakra – 31.6C (30.6C in 1996) also on the Black Sea and the northern coastal town of Shabla – 31.6C (equal to the record set in 1956).

The scorcher was, however, the most oppressing Saturday in the Danube city of Ruse – 36C, the central city of Veliko Tarnovo – 35.6C, the southwestern town of Sandanski – 35.6C and the southern second largest city of Plovdiv – 35.5C.

In the capital Sofia, the highest registered temperature was 31.4C at 3pm Saturday.

Code yellow was declared for nearly entire Bulgaria, except the regions of Smolyan and Gabrovo, for Saturday over the forecast of dangerous heat.

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

The heat wave is expected to persist over the next few days.