The polar conditions in Dubrovnik are continuing, with temperatures this morning measured at – 1 degree. The north wind picked up overnight to gale force and speeds of 140 km/h were measured. These freezing winds forced the Dubrovnik Bridge to close as well as the Dubrovnik Airport.

The north winds also caused havoc with the Christmas decorations in the Gruz area near the Port of Dubrovnik. As these photos from Adriatic Images show the biting north winds ripped up many of the festive decorations and tossed them around the park. It also blew strong enough to knock over scooters that were parked nearby.

And there is no sign of the winds dropping, the only thing that will be dropping is the temperature. Today temperatures between – 2 and – 6 are predicted and with the northerly wind it will feel even colder.

Photos by Adriatic Images

Great news continue to arrive to Dubrovnik in 2017. At the beginning of this year The New York Times included Dubrovnik in its top list of 52 most beautiful world destinations to visit during 2017 and placed it on the high, sixth place.

Istria also made it to The New York Times list and it’s on 41st place, which in the opinion of the Mayor of Dubrovnik Andro Vlahusic talks about new perspectives of Croatian tourism.

On this occasion Mayor Vlahusic sent a letter to the Minister of Tourism Gari Cappelli, in which among other things he says that the US market is one of the world's most important source markets for Dubrovnik,which is clear if we look at numbers. Over the past year, guests from the United States were in second place with 82,287 arrivals and 254,931 overnight stays. Number of passengers from the United States on average ranges from about 200 passengers a day that is 1600 per week or during the peak of tourist season about 500 passengers a day and 3000 per week.

In the letter to the Minister Capelli Mayor Vlahusic points out that one reason for nearly triple increase in the number of arrivals and overnight stays that American guests made in Dubrovnik in the past six years is certainly globally popular Game of Thrones, which was filmed in Dubrovnik again in 2016, which was pointed out by The New York Times too.

While highlighting the excellent tourist results and records that Dubrovnik achieved Dubrovnik in 2016 Mayor Vlahusic said that according to current indicators, the number of guests from the US will continue to grow in the coming years and that with joint efforts and investments of the Ministry of Tourism, Croatian Tourist Board, Croatia Airlines and Dubrovnik Airport is necessary to get back direct air-route New York - Dubrovnik.

It has been a cold, cold day in Dubrovnik today. Temperatures barely rose above zero all day and a freezing north wind made sure the wind chill factor was even colder. With ice-cold rain and snow on the higher ground Dubrovnik certainly didn’t look like a holiday destination today.

And colder temperatures are on the way for tomorrow with temperatures between -2 and – 6 degrees predicted. The Dubrovnik Airport has been closed for most of the day and the Dubrovnik bridge is also still closed to all vehicles. It is expected that both the airport and the bridge will be closed again tomorrow as the polar winter hits the region.

Today in Dubrovnik by Zeljko Tutnjevic

''If the size of the Croatian economy is taken into account, it should have almost 2,000 robots, however, according to our estimates only 175 are used in the industry thus Croatia is 1,800 robots short. The increased use of robots can be considered as one of the most important ways in increasing productivity'', commented the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

The HGK in cooperation with the Nikola Tesla Innovation Centre (ICENT) and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is part of the CROBOHUB project, whose main goal is to establish a regional competence centre for robotics within the ICENT.
Emil Peric, the head of the HGK's Department of Technology Development and IT said that the Croatian economy needed at least 2,000 robots, whilst there were only 175. ''It only indicates the unused potential and the need for further development and investments'', said Peric.

'' Many stakeholders in the economy do not see robots as a threat that would completely replace human work. Actually there will be need for more staff to control robots, service them and produce new ones. With a lack of skilled labour and the workforce in general, with many industrial sectors based on low wages, robotics can be seen as a way to increase productivity, or even perhaps as the only way to do that”, concluded Peric.

The Siberian start to 2017 in Dubrovnik has brought snow and ice to many parts of the Dubrovnik County. Konavle, Pelješac and the Dubrovnik hinterland are under a white blanket of snow as freezing temperatures continue to dominate the weather. And more snow and even colder temperatures are on the way. Currently it is around 2 degrees in Dubrovnik with zero degrees expected overnight, and then Friday will see the polar front hit Dubrovnik with – 2 to – 6 degrees predicted.

The roads of the county are relatively clean and snow ploughs have been out since this morning cleaning the snow as well as spreading salt for the ice. Drivers have been warned not to travel tomorrow unless necessary.

And due to the gale force northerly winds the Dubrovnik Bridge has been closed for most of the day. Dubrovnik Airport is also closed to all flights and passengers travelling to Dubrovnik are landing at Split Airport and then continuing their journeys by buses.

Photo gallery of the Zupa hills this afternoon

According to a press release from the construction company Tehnika from Zagreb an agreement was concluded on the construction of a reinforced concrete structure of the above-ground part of the hotel building with accompanying facilities at the Westgate complex in Split.

The construction project called ''Westgate B'' is funded with money from the Croatian bank for Reconstruction and Development, whilst the investment is estimated at 500 million Kunas.

''The ''Westgate B'' tower should be 110 metres high thus it will be officially the tallest building in Croatia. The tower will have six underground levels, a ground floor and 27 floors with a total area of 35,000 square metres. This project will be of multipurpose use, whilst the hotel part of the tower will have 189 rooms, 4 suites, a wellness centre, a fitness centre, a congress centre, restaurants and bars'', explained Josip Komar from the Westgate Tower.

Komar also added that the hotel would be operated by one of the world's largest hotel companies that was yet to be discovered to the public, but would surely contribute to the competitiveness and improvement of tourist offer.

According to Komar's words the second part of the building will host the headquarters of several technology companies. The whole project will create 300 new jobs, whilst after the construction around 2,000 people will work at the complex.

Due to bad weather conditions all flights to or from Dubrovnik are cancelled or diverted. Day started with strong north wind and low temperatures combined with rain and snow. The forecast for the next few days is for more snow and colder temperatures as a polar front hits the region, which could also affect travel plans of many.

Dubrovnik could well see another record this weekend, a record for the coldest ever temperature. The city awoke to freezing temperatures this morning as temperatures dropped to 3 degrees and a north wind made the wind chill factor even colder. Light snow has already started to fall in the regions around Dubrovnik, the hills of Konavle and Zupa are white, and more snow is predicted to fall this afternoon.

The forecast for the next few days is for more snow and colder temperatures as a polar front hits the region. The coldest ever temperature measured in Dubrovnik was in January 1968 when - 7 was recorded. However on Saturday this record could be broken as forecasters predict temperatures down to – 8 as the Siberian weather continues.