Snow blankets Athens, Greek islands and Turkey’s Istanbul

byJohn Smith •
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A member of the Greek Presidential guard wipes on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in entrance of the Greek parliament throughout a snowfall , in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. The wave of dangerous climate hitting Greece is forecast to proceed by Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the general public to keep away from all however important out of doors motion, and several other main roads and highways are satisfactory solely with snow chains.
  • A member of the Greek Presidential guard wipes at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Greek parliament during a snowfall , in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • A pedestrian walks during a snowfall, in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • The city of Athens with the Parthenon temple atop the ancient Acropolis hill is covered with snow during a snowfall, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • A woman watch the ancient temple of Zeus covered with snow during a snowfall, in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • The Panathenaic Stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896, is covered with snow during a snowfall, in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • A woman wearing a hat walks during a snowfall, in central Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. A severe weather front has hit Greece, with sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall in many parts of the country, including the capital Athens and many Aegean islands.
  • The city of Athens with the Parthenon temple atop the ancient Acropolis hill is covered with snow , during a snowfall, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.The wave of bad weather hitting Greece is forecast to continue through Tuesday, and has seen snow falling even on some islands. Authorities have warned the public to avoid all but essential outdoor movement, and several major roads and highways are passable only with snow chains.
  • A man with a dog walks during a snowfall, in central Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. A severe weather front has hit Greece, with sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall in many parts of the country, including the capital Athens and many Aegean islands.
  • People play with the snow during a snowfall, in central Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. A severe weather front has hit Greece, with sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall in many parts of the country, including the capital Athens and many Aegean islands.
  • A woman makes a snow man during a snowfall, in Athens, on Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. A severe weather front has hit Greece, with sub-freezing temperatures and snowfall in many parts of the country, including the capital Athens and many Aegean islands.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Heavy snowfall disrupted air site visitors Monday within the Greek capital of Athens and neighboring Turkey’s largest metropolis of Istanbul, whereas a number of Aegean islands and far of Turkey had been blanketed by snow.

The storm, named Elpida, or “hope” in Greece, snarled site visitors in each Athens and Istanbul, a metropolis of 16 million individuals.

Flights out and in of Istanbul Airport had been suspended till 4 a.m. Tuesday (0100 GMT) whereas authorities labored to clear runways in addition to a highway resulting in the airport. In the meantime, public places of work closed early to ease rush-hour congestion.

Flurries had been forecast to proceed over the following few days in Istanbul. Istanbul’s Catastrophe Coordination Heart AKOM says an Icelandic low-pressure system is behind the chilly entrance and precipitation.

In Greece, authorities warned the general public to restrict out of doors actions to solely important ones on Monday and Tuesday, whereas faculties in lots of areas had been closed. Authorities spokesman Giannis Oikonomou stated greater than 46,000 faculty courses throughout the nation had been being held on-line.

The snow was coming down thick and quick all through the day in central Athens, deciding on the marble columns of the traditional Acropolis. Authorities despatched out emergency alerts to cell telephones within the wider Athens space warning of extreme snowfall.

Snow chains had been necessary for automobiles on many roads, whereas vans had been banned from the principle freeway heading north from Athens. However, the icy situations and lack of snow chains on some autos left site visitors snarled for hours on most of the Greek capital’s roads, together with a freeway ring highway and one of many major avenues in Athens.

A number of home and worldwide flights to Athens airport had been cancelled, whereas subway service to the airport was partially suspended as a few of it runs above floor.

The well being ministry introduced that COVID-19 vaccination facilities within the wider Athens area of Attica and on the close by island of Evia would shut at 3 p.m. Monday and would stay closed on Tuesday due to the heavy snowfall.

Oikonomou stated climate situations would proceed to be “troublesome” on Tuesday. Civil safety authorities have arrange coordination facilities with the hearth division, police, the armed forces and native authorities to deal with any issues, he stated.

Snow is frequent within the Greek mountains and in northern Greece however is much less frequent in central Athens and on Aegean islands. Final yr, the Greek capital was hit by a serious snowstorm that brought on extreme issues, knocking out energy for days in sure neighborhoods and making all streets impassable with out snow chains. Hundreds of timber collapsed from the burden of the snow and ice.

To the north in neighboring Albania on Monday, all elementary and excessive faculties closed for 3 days due to chilly climate. Authorities suggested individuals to keep away from driving. Temperatures reached -17 C (about 1 F) in japanese Albania, isolating some areas and inflicting issues for the electrical energy and water provides. Many rural roads have been blocked.

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Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania and Suzan Fraser in Istanbul contributed.

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