A tourist hotspot in Transylvania has posted the coldest temperatures on record.
But the frigid minus 21.5C recorded at Balea Lake on Sunday night may have been good for tourists and business. The place is popular for its Ice Hotel, the only one of its kind in southeast Europe.
The hotel which is rebuilt every winter and only functions during the winter months has been operating during the coronavirus pandemic according to its Facebook page.
The year before, construction was delayed as the weather was too warm for tourists to enjoy its chilly charms which include igloos, a bar and a church, all carved from ice.
However, on Sunday night, temperatures plunged to a historic low, beating a 35-year-old record, said Narcisa Milian, the spokeswoman for the South Transylvania Regional Weather Center.
The previous record was in 1986 when it fell to minus 19.6 C, she told Agerpres national news agency.
Polar weather spread to Romania ahead of the weekend and is expected to last until Wednesday with subzero temperatures across the country, dipping to minus 20 C in some places.
Balea Lake which is located at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters currently has 203 centimeters (about 6.6 foot) of snow, more than anywhere in the county of Sibiu, in central Romania.
