Greece records exceptional snowfall and cold, hundreds of motorists blocked

The snow covered this Monday much of Greece, even to the island of Crete (south), due to a cold wave with temperatures in some places as low as -14ºC, which caused power outages and several roads.

It snowed heavily for the first time this winter in the center of the capital, Athens, forcing the closure of the Greek parliament and schools.

This Monday afternoon, hundreds of motorists remained trapped in their vehicles for several hours on the Athens ring road, after the heavy snow storm, according to images released by the media.

“The situation is very difficult in Attica -Athens region- (…) The biggest problem is concentrated in the Attiki Odos ring road”, which connects the capital from east to west, said Christos Stylianides, minister Civil Protection and Climate Change.

In a televised speech together with the prefect of Attica, Giorgos Patoulis, police officers and meteorologists, the minister “apologized” to the inhabitants of the city for the huge traffic jams and described the climatic situation as “never seen”.

On the other hand, air and sea transport were not affected, but the circulation of metro trains to the capital’s airport was interrupted.

“It’s an extreme situation,” said Christos Zerefos, professor of atmospheric physics, before the cameras of the state television channel ERT.

For his part, Costas Lagouvardos, director of research at the National Observatory of Athens, told channel ANT1 that such a climate had not been recorded in the capital since 1968.

There was also heavy snowfall on the island of Euboea, which was devastated by fires last summer.

All municipalities intensified efforts to keep main roads passable, while power outages were reported in many villages.

Heavy snowfall is expected to continue on Tuesday, also with temperatures below zero, Civil Protection said.

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