A blanket of heavy snow lined the Greek capital on Monday, from the Acropolis hill to the coast within the south, disrupting air site visitors, bringing transport to a halt and leaving scores of drivers stranded in a single day in a freeway.
Rescue crews struggled to free a whole lot of drivers whose automobiles halted for hours on an Athens ring street because the storm, named Elpida, swept Greece and lined town with a thick layer of snow.
Greek media confirmed footage of troopers handing out meals, water and blankets to a number of the drivers because the temperature fell in a single day.
Heavy snowfall is uncommon in Athens however the metropolis has now been hit by snowstorms for a second consecutive yr.
Fifteen passengers have been injured when a rail transport car tried to drag a practice carrying about 200 passengers which had halted in heavy snow in central Greece.
Two of the injured have been in critical situation, a police official stated.
Practice and bus companies within the capital have been suspended. COVID-19 vaccination services within the wider Athens area and on the close by island of Evia have been closed, well being officers stated.
State companies, faculties, non-essential retailers and banks in these two areas and on many Greek islands, together with Crete, may also be shut on Tuesday because the chilly spell was anticipated to persist till Wednesday.
“It will likely be a tough night time,” stated Christos Stylianides, Greece‘s local weather disaster and civil safety minister.
Greek provider Aegean Airways cancelled all however 5 flights on Monday and stated it anticipated schedules to be disrupted on Tuesday and probably Wednesday.
(Reuters)