A state of emergency has been declared in 13 Serbian municipalities, buried under a thick blanket of snow after days of constant snowfall, reported Radio Television Serbia (RTS) on Saturday.

The Serbian Army has been summoned to clear roads and rescue isolated individuals, more notably the mountainous village of Babusnica, near the Bulgarian border, where snow drifts over one meter have made it inaccessible.

The most critical areas are along a swath of territory stretching from near the Montenegrin border eastward to Bulgaria, with Nova Varos, Prijepolje and Ivanjica hardest hit. Many villages have also been without electricity for days, with transmission lines downed by heavy snow and strong winds.

Members of Serbia's Ski Service helped evacuate residents of a village near Brus, not far from Serbia's most notable ski destination on Kopaonik, which has recorded more than 134 centimeters of snow this season.

According to Predrag Maric, head of emergency services, it will take days of cleanup to be able to reach many of the snowbound villages.