While down in the towns the air conditioners run at full blast and the thermometers won't drop under thirty, the highest Balkan peaks pulled on winter in a matter of hours. Yesterday snow fell on Pelister in Macedonia, on Musala in Bulgaria and on Bjelasica in Montenegro - three peaks, three countries, one cold air mass that showed, in the middle of July, who really rules up there.

On Pelister, at 2,601 metres above sea level, the rain turned to snow after a sudden cold snap. The photos of the whitened rocks were taken by staff at the National Broadcasting post, and the news was announced by the „Pelister“ National Park. The same cold mass brought snow to Musala too - at 2,925 metres the highest peak not only in Bulgaria but on the whole Balkan Peninsula - which woke up under a white cover, fog and damp rocks.

The scene looks unusual for the calendar, but for a mountain climate it is nothing strange. At high altitude, summer never holds full power: a burst of cold air, a little moisture and a sharp drop in temperature are enough for rain to turn to snow. The mountain has its own rules, and it does not sync them with our holiday schedule.

The weather services did not take this as a romantic postcard. Today they issued a yellow warning code for thunderstorms in 10 regions, and meteorologists are calling for caution - especially for those staying in mountain areas, where low temperatures, strong wind and possible electrical discharges can quickly turn from an unusual sight into a serious problem.

And Pelister, let us not forget, is not just the familiar silhouette above Bitola. It is a complex high-mountain space with its own microclimate and sensitive habitats, home to the molika - the quiet pine that remembers the heights and is one of the strongest symbols of Macedonian mountain nature. When the mountain leaps from summer to winter in a few hours, that is its way of reminding us that it does not ask for respect - it imposes it.