Severe weather

Powerful thunderstorms swept across Lithuania on Thursday evening and overnight, bringing torrential rain, lightning, strong winds and hail that caused widespread damage, particularly in the southern Dzūkija region.
Firefighters responded to 49 calls to remove storm-felled trees, with more than half of the incidents, 25, reported in Alytus County, according to the Fire and Rescue Department. No injuries were reported.
Tree removal operations continued throughout the night, said Saulius Raščevskis, a senior specialist with the department’s Situation Coordination Division.
“In some cases, crews removed dozens of trees during a single deployment,” Raščevskis said. “One response in the Varėna district involved about 50 fallen trees, while another in the Lazdijai district required the removal of 25.”
Most trees blocked roads, disrupting traffic across several municipalities. Firefighters also responded after trees fell onto three vehicles, one building and power lines in four separate incidents. In the Šalčininkai district, a tree crashed onto the roof of a two-story apartment building. No one was injured in any of the incidents.
Jolita Orentaitė, head of communications for the Fire and Rescue Department, said additional emergency calls were expected Friday as authorities continued clearing storm damage.
“The majority of our work involved removing trees from roads, but firefighters also cleared trees from vehicles and buildings and responded to an unusually high number of incidents involving power lines,” Orentaitė told LRT. “It was one of the most challenging days our service has faced in terms of storm cleanup.”
The severe weather also damaged the homestead of Lithuanian anti-Soviet partisan Juozas Jakavonis, known by the nom de guerre Tigras, according to lawmaker Angelė Jakavonytė.
Emergency crews responded to numerous incidents across southern and central Lithuania. In Kaunas, a fallen tree blocked an entire roadway on Perkūno Avenue before firefighters cleared the obstruction.
Multiple roads in the Prienai district were blocked by fallen trees, while in Birštonas, firefighters removed trees from roads and carefully cleared one that had fallen onto a parked car. In Marijampolė district, firefighters monitored a tree leaning dangerously onto power lines until utility crews arrived.
Thursday’s storms also tore roofs from buildings and caused extensive damage in the Varėna and Lazdijai districts, where thousands of residents lost electricity.
As of Friday morning, electricity distribution operator ESO reported 62 active power outages affecting 2,143 customers.
Forecasters said scattered showers are possible Friday, mainly in western Lithuania, with highs of 21 to 26 degrees Celsius. Conditions are expected to improve over the weekend, with only isolated showers forecast Saturday and mostly dry weather expected Sunday.