After a prolonged spell of dry and hot weather, parts of Slovenia were hit by storms with heavy rain and strong winds. In particular in the north, several buildings and roads were flooded or blocked by landslides and rescue teams were busy helping young foreign scouts caught up in the storm.

Since the 19 July evening, more than 230 weather-related incidents have been reported across the country, mainly in the regions of Koroška (N), Gorenjska (NW), Savinjska (N), central Slovenia, and Dolenjska and Posavje in SW.

The situation was the worst in the Gorenjska municipality of Preddvor, and in Koroška in the north, which like many of the areas hit in the latest storm had already suffered badly in the devastating floods in August 2023.

In the village of Kokra in the municipality of Preddvor, a bridge was swept away by a swollen stream. Residents from three houses had to be evacuated as these were engulfed by a landslide, Mayor Rok Roblek told Radio Slovenia.

He said the storm also badly damaged the infrastructure, including the power line supplying Jezersko, a popular alpine tourism destination, as well as telecommunication links. A total of ten homes were damaged as a huge amount of rocks rolled downhill.

Scouts and hikers caught in storm

Firefighters helped move a group of 47 Belgian scouts into a hotel after their camp by the Kokra river was swept away by the storm, according to Radio Slovenija.

Aleš Drekonja, the local civil protection commander, told the radio station that apart from sustaining minor scratches, the scouts were not harmed, but they found them frightened and in a state of shock.

A group of five German underage scouts was rescued from a ridge above Lake Bohinj. Mountain rescuers found them chilled to the bone, attending to them before bringing them into the valley in 4WDs.

Several roads blocked

In another beauty spot, the Logar Valley in the north, a landslide blocked a road leading up to the Rinka waterfall. They will try to remove the rocks in the coming days, said Solčava Mayor Katarina Prelesnik.

The mayor said that two hikers also needed help descending the mountains, which surround the Logar Valley.

Further to the south-east, in Laško, storm water flooded a retirement home and the Thermana Laško Spa, according to the head of the local volunteer fire brigade. Some roads, including the one connecting Celje and Zidani Most, were flooded but the firefighters have tackled the situation.

Significant disruption due to flood water was also reported from Mozirje and Velenje, where production halls of the household appliances maker Gorenje were flooded, and a car had to be rescued from a flooded underpass.

In the northern Koroška region a landslide closed down the Dravograd-Radlje ob Dravi road, which has since reopened for one-way traffic.

The local road Dravograd-Trbonje, which only opened a month ago after being destroyed in the August 2023 floods, is closed again. Dravograd Mayor Anton Preksavec believes it could be reopened, at least for one-way traffic, today.

On a positive side, rain aided firefighters to extinguish the wildfire that engulfed around 150 hectares of forest on Mount Trstelj in the Kras region in the west after they brought it completely under control with the help of several aircraft the day before.

Most rainfall in Krško

The heaviest rainfall was recorded in the Karavanke mountain range area, in central Slovenia and the Posavje region, Environment Agency meteorologist Jure Cedilnik told the Slovenian Press Agency.

Most rain was measured in Krško with 112 litres per m2 and in Jelendol at the foot of the Karavanke with 105 litres per m2.

"The storms started yesterday night on the northern border with Austria, they strengthened and travelled south. The most rain fell on this route from Jelendol over central Slovenia to Krško," said Cedilnik.

Rain will continue across Slovenia until late afternoon or evening but will slowly abate.