PRISTINA (REUTERS) - Kosovo started rationing water in and around its capital Pristina on Monday as it struggled with its worst shortages in at least three decades, officials said.

Unusually low levels of snowfall and rain had left reservoirs at worrying levels, said state water company Prishtina.

Under normal circumstances, the company pipes water to most houses in the area for 14 hours a day, generally cutting off supplies over night. That would now be reduced to 10 hours a day, said company spokesman Arjeta Mjeku.

"We haven't had this situation since 1983," when the company started working in the area, Ms Mjeku told Reuters. Prishtina serves around 400,000 people, about a quarter of Kosovo's population.