Cold wave brings snow, strong winds to Greece
An intense cold wave hit Greece on Monday, bringing strong winds, freezing rain and snowfall across several regions, the National Meteorological Service (EMY) said.
Temperatures began a sharp decline from Sunday afternoon and are expected to remain very low until Wednesday morning, with frost during night and early morning hours, particularly in northern areas. Gale-force winds were forecast to affect parts of the country through Monday night.
According to an emergency weather bulletin, snowfall was expected at higher elevations of mainland Greece and Evia, as well as at lowland areas of eastern Macedonia and Thrace, parts of Serres, Chalkidiki and eastern Thessaloniki, and islands in the northern Aegean. Snow was also forecast for lowland areas of Evia and mountainous parts of the Cyclades and Crete.
Snowfall was expected to ease before midday in northern regions and later in the rest of the country, except for mountainous areas of Crete, where conditions were set to persist until Tuesday morning.
The General Secretariat of Civil Protection urged citizens to limit travel, secure objects that could be blown away by strong winds and use snow chains when necessary.
