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Meteorologists warn that the weather could bring serious complications in different parts of the country over the weekend. Some of the smaller rivers in southern Bohemia are swollen after several days of rain and a number of towns are on second-degree flood alert. Meanwhile heavy snow and strong winds in the higher altitudes are expected to worsen the situation on many Czech roads. Meteorologists expect between 10 and 30 centimeters of fresh snow in the next 24 hours. Maintenance crews are reportedly working around the clock to keep the main roads clear. Drivers have been warned not to set out for the mountains without winter gear.

Prague’s mayor Bohuslav Sobotka has praised the outcome of a flood response training exercise conducted in the Czech capital on Saturday. He said the exercise had met the highest expectations and indicated a high level of preparedness even in the event of a serious flood. Within the exercise firemen and emergency crews erected a flood barrier along a three kilometre stretch of the Vltava river in one and a half hours flat. The deadline was four hours. The head of the team said good weather conditions and the fact that the city is half empty on weekends helped the effort. The flood barrier is to be dismantled by midnight and all traffic restrictions lifted.

Following heavy rain showers in the night from Saturday to Sunday, water levels of several rivers in the Liberec region have risen. According to information from the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, the river Šmedá has reached the third level on the flood activity scale, while at three other locations, first-level flood alerts were issued.

The state-owned forest company Lesy CR has said that last week’s flooding in the northern and eastern parts of the country had caused damage estimated to the tune of 21,5 million crowns. A clean-up and reconstruction operation is underway. The company manages 1,3 million hectares of forestland, which amounts to half of the country’s forests.

Water levels on swollen rivers in the country continued to drop throughout Saturday, leaving only one high flood alert on the Dědina River. But there too conditions have improved: on Saturday at four pm the river registered a level of 291 centimetres; at six am on Sunday it had had dropped to 277 cm. Days before, families who had been evacuated from their homes in areas began returning. The Czech Republic was hit by disastrous floods one year ago, which caused major damage and claimed several lives.

Water levels on a number of swollen rivers in north-eastern Bohemia and Moravia began subsiding on Friday night, leaving high flood alerts only on the Dědina and Orlice, where levels, however, have also fallen. With the risk of floods abating and conditions improving on Friday, families who had been evacuated from their homes in areas began returning. Despite improvements, some 170 people were nevertheless evacuated from local summer camps. Some lower-category roads had been closed in the Liberec, Hradec Králové regions and parts of northern Moravia. Earlier in the week some rail routes had been closed because they were either waterlogged or hampered by fallen trees. The Czech Republic was hit by disastrous floods one year ago, which caused major damage and claimed several lives.

Persistent rain throughout the country has raised the water levels of rivers in northern Bohemia and Moravia, leading the authorities to issue high alert warnings in places: the most serious conditions on Friday were registered in the regions of Liberec, Hradec Králové and Šumperk. Meteorologists expect conditions to improve later in the Jizerský and Krkonoše Mountains, but to worsen elsewhere, namely in the Orlické, Jeseník and Beskid Mountains in north-eastern Moravia. Continued rainfall has led to the closure of several roads and bridges in Moravia; in one case, 45 children were evacuated from a summer camp but without incident. Water breaking the banks of the Morava River, meanwhile, has led to minor local flooding. Elsewhere, in western Bohemia, the danger of floods has gone down since Wednesday.

Persistent rains have raised the water levels of rivers around Bohemia. Warnings are in place throughout the western half of the Czech Republic, with high alerts in the regions of Liberec, Plzeň and Ústí nad Labem. Minor damages have been reported in those regions, consisting mostly of flooded gardens and cellars. In Western Bohemia, 75 children were evacuated from a summer camp due to flooding while in Prague the Vyšehrad station of the metro was closed for several hours on Wednesday when water seeped into the technical control room.

The Czech Republic’s anti-monopoly watchdog has cancelled a 400-million crown tender to repair bridges in the Liberec region in the north of the country, the daily Mladá fronta dnes reported on Saturday. The winning bidder would land a deal to repair more than 50 bridges on lower class roads across the region. However, the tender’s criteria were discriminatory, the anti-monopoly authority said. The head of the Office for the Protection of Competition, Petr Rafaj, said that according to the criteria, the successful bidder would have to prove a turnover of up to 80 percent of the deal’s value, which was against the law. Regional authorities have accepted the verdict and opened a new tender.

Czech meteorologists have cancelled flood warnings for various, mostly mountainous, regions where heavy rainfall is expected on Sunday. Warnings were issued for the regions of Liberec, Ústí nad Labem, Moravia-Silesia and Zlín. The meteorological institute now says it expects water flows to remain in the riverbeds. A warning of strong winds remains in place.