Rare and heavy snow in the eastern Mediterranean region has seriously affected local and international transport flows, power supply and the operation of a number of institutions in the European part of Turkey and in Greece, British news portal The Guardian reports.
Europe’s busiest airport shut down in Istanbul on Monday, January 24, while schools and vaccination centres closed in Athens as a rare snowstorm blanketed swathes of the eastern Mediterranean, causing blackouts and traffic havoc.
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The closure of Istanbul Airport – where the roof of one of the cargo terminals collapsed under heavy snow, causing no injuries – grounded flights stretching from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and Asia. The winter’s first snow proved a major headache for the 16 million residents of Turkey’s largest city, where cars ploughed into each other, skidding down steep, sleet-covered streets and highways turned into parking lots.
Meanwhile in Greece, where overnight temperatures plummeted to minus 14 degrees Celsius, the storm suspended a session of parliament and forced schools and vaccination centres to close in Athens. Hundreds of drivers were trapped in cars around the capital despite attempts by police to seal off motorway entry points to the north of the city, The Guardian wrote.
Heavy snow in eastern Mediterranean forces closure of Europe’s busiest aviation hub
