ATHENS, Greece (AP) – A heavy blizzard covered the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens and interrupted COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital on Tuesday, as the weather paralyzed many services across the country.
As Western Europe took some rest from the winter climate, temperatures plummeted in the south-east of the continent and winter storms also hit Turkey.
Snow, an unusual sight in Athens, a city with more than 3 million inhabitants, has also disrupted most public transport services, while felled trees have caused blackouts in several mountain suburbs.
Snow is common in the mountains of Greece and in the north of the country, but much more rare in the capital. Some Athenians emerged cautiously outside, taking pictures on balconies and on the streets.
The snow arrived while Athens and several other parts of Greece remain blocked to contain coronavirus infections. Schools and most shops are closed and residents must stay home during the night curfew.
Some children skipped online classes on Tuesday to play in the snow. The adults also went out to play, with some skis digging to use on the mountainous slopes of the capital. A man skied along the Pnyx hill, in the center of Athens, near the Acropolis.
Norwegian ambassador Frode Overland Andersen tweeted a video of himself skiing on a hill in the suburb of Filothei with his teenage daughter.
“Challenge accepted,” he wrote, after a friend in Oslo challenged him to prove that it was really possible to ski in Athens.
“It was the best day in my home office during the blockade so far,” the ambassador told the Associated Press. “Unfortunately, my skis have suffered a lot, so I will shave and get ready for the next season.”
Outside the parliament building, orange snowblowers cleaned the streets of ice and snow, while presidential guards, dressed in traditional pleated kilts and pom-pom shoes, received heavy wool overcoats .
The cold wave, which has already caused snowstorms in much of Europe, kept temperatures around freezing in Athens on Tuesday, but is expected to rise sharply with highs of 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) expected for Thursday. market. In neighboring Turkey, heavy snowfall and blizzards forced the closure of a highway in northwestern Turkey. About 600 vehicles were stuck on a nine-kilometer (six-mile) stretch of snow-covered road, and another 800 vehicles were stuck elsewhere, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
Stretches of Greece’s main highway were also closed on Tuesday, and most ferry services to the islands were canceled, while flights from regional airports to Athens were halted.
Greek Fire Department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said the service had received more than 600 requests for assistance in Greater Athens.
“The calls mainly concerned the felling of trees and the transportation of people trapped in their vehicles to a safe place, but also the transportation of patients on kidney dialysis to receive treatment,” he told state TV.
“Vaccinations have been delayed, but we have helped to transport doctors and medical staff to where they are needed and we have helped energy technicians reach damaged electricity poles in areas that are difficult to access,” said Vathrakoyiannis.
Power and water outages have also been reported in central Greece. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with emergency response leaders to help residents in darkened areas and villages isolated by snow.
“Obviously, we recommend great care in all movements, all unnecessary movements should be avoided,” said Mitsotakis after the meeting, adding that the authorities are doing everything they can to keep roads open and restore energy in areas without electricity.
“I think we are all going to show patience when dealing with a phenomenon that is really unprecedented,” he added. ___ Follow Becatoros at https://twitter.com/ElenaBec and Gatopoulos at https://twitter.com/dgatopoulos ___ Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey and Thanassis Stavrakis, Petros Giannakouris and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens contributed.