STA, February 15, 2018 - Slovenia has woken up to one of the coldest mornings this winter, with temperatures dropping to more than -20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.
The lowest temperatures were recorded in the villages Babno Polje and Nova Vas, some 45 km south of Ljubljana, where the mercury dropped to -23 and -22, respectively.
The Babno Polje area is known for low temperatures, which has earned it the nickname Slovenia's Siberia. The area's record is -34.5 degrees from February 1956 and January 1968.
Today's temperatures have resulted from the combination of a snow blanket, clear night and fairly cold air, Brane Gregorčič from the National Environment Agency explained for the STA on Thursday.
Although winter conditions are also expected in the second half of February, the mercury is not expected to drop that low any more.
However, before the winter is over Gregorčič expects temperatures to drop below -10 in particularly exposed areas.
January was the coldest part of the year in 2107. Temperatures dropped much below -10 degrees on 8 January, when Kočevje, a town some 60 km south-east of Ljubljana, recorded -15.5 degrees.
One of the coldest days in recent years was 20 December 2009, when around -20 degrees was recorded in low-lying areas, and even less on plateaus in the Notranjska region. Unofficially, Rakitna, some 20 km south of Ljubljana, recorded -27 degrees, while the area of Babno Polje recorded -25.
The last time the mercury fell below -20 degrees in Ljubljana was in 1985, hitting -20.3 degrees.
