Snow and freezing temperatures also in capital Athens have paralyzed the Greek south mainland after police ordered the closure of the south part of the national highway connecting the Greek capital with the north of the country.
Police closed the national network from the Kalyftaki junction in Kato Kifissia, subrub of northern Athens until Lamia, some 150 km, at 5:30 Monday morning, trapping lorries and their drivers on the highway and hindering commuters from reaching their workplaces.
Video: National highway at Martino
Most roads to the mountains surrounding Athens have been closed το traffic.
The snowfall which is not so heavy in Athens is apparently causing problems to urban train ISAP (Metro Line 1) that halts at <Eirini> station.
In the section from the tolls of Thebes to the Castle of Boeotia, hundreds of cars have been trapped and the Traffic Police has led them to safe places, waiting for the release of the National Road from the snow to allow traffic.
Along the National Network in Fthiotida, central Greece, all the parking lots are reportedly filled with cars that have been immobilized. The local police is already looking for new places even in the city of Lamia to drive there safely the cars.
Snowplows throw salt and remove snow, however, the volume of snow is very large.
*** According to latest information by state broadcaster ERT, the national highway is expected to open again to traffic at noon. Citing Police ERT reported that the highway will be open 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm. Bases on the current meteorological data, the highway Athens-Lamia will close for 14 hours, 7 pm-7pm, February 15-16, 2021. a
Also sea traffic in the Aεgean Sea has been largely halted due to gale-force winds blowing with intensity of up to 10 Beaufort.
Extensive power outages have been occurring since Sunday, in villages in Epirus, in North Evia, the islands of Skopelos, Skiathos and Alonisos, Pilio and elsewhere. The Sporades islands are without electricity for the last 12 hours.
sources: lamiareport, others
PS On social media, the usual mean Greeks criticize why there always have to be the same problems (closure of national highway, power outages) when there is snow. This is a question to which we will never receive an answer.
Failure of state mechanism as usual?
Government affiliated media speak of “the worst snowfall in last 20 years” which is not true and not one meteorologist said a thing like that.
