The extreme weather conditions battering the south east of Romania have not eased.

In Bucharest transport links were paralysed. Authorities said 160 trains were cancelled. Schools have remained shut and over 5,000 power failures have been reported.

The port of Contanta has been closed due to the storms. Weather forecasters have warned there is more to come.

“We anticipate widespread gales with winds exceeding 80 kilometres per hour and a steady layer of snow forming on top of the existing one which is over 40 centimetres,” said Florineal Georgescu who is the executive director of the National Administration of Meteorology.

It has issued a Red Code warning – the most severe – in six areas in the south east. It’s the first time it has been used.

Many villages have been cut off with snow ploughs helpless to clear a way through the drifts. The fierce winds have made helicopter flights impossible.

Around 5,000 troops have been drafted in to help remove the snow.