NEWS

Freeze spreads and grips more parts of Greece

Snowstorms swept through Greece yesterday, isolating parts of the national highway, grounding airplanes and cutting off electricity as authorities warned residents to stay indoors with more dangerous icy conditions expected today. A white blanket covered most of the country as temperatures dipped as low as -20C (-4F) in Drama, northern Greece, while milder Athens saw the thermometer fall below freezing. Gale-force winds reaching 11 Beaufort worsened the impact of the storms that blew in from the north, paralyzing the country even though much of Greece struggles with such conditions each winter. Drivers on the Athens-Thessaloniki highway were trapped for hours in their cars at the Vale of Tempe after the national highway was effectively cut in half by two trucks that blocked the road due to problems caused by drifting snow. The army stepped in and handed out blankets and food rations to passengers as some press reports said the traffic backed up for kilometers. «We are trying to keep the roads open. We are fighting a big battle,» Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said. The government has come under fire as weather experts had been warning authorities for days about the harsh conditions ahead. More than 2,500 patrolling police officers have hit the roads across the country to provide assistance, while a partial travel ban has been imposed on trucks. Snowfall is more unusual for Attica, although statistics show that Athenians are getting more used to seeing the Acropolis covered in white. According to official data, temperatures in Athens have fallen below zero three times in the last decade. Locals were gathering around the fireplace on the islands of Cephalonia and Ithaca as snow and strong winds toppled power poles and cut off electricity in the area. The first possible snow-related death was also reported late yesterday as a 75-year-old man with a heart condition died in a village close to Lamia after tending to his garden. The airport in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, was closed, while some flights from Athens International Airport were canceled due to problems at the airfields of destinations such as Alexandroupolis. Residents have been warned that the worst is not yet over, with temperatures expected to remain below freezing today in many parts of Greece. Schools in Athens will be closed while much of the public transport system – the metro, tram and the suburban railway – will be running around the clock in a bid to give Athenians an alternative to driving in the snow. Weather conditions are expected to improve by the weekend.

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