Winter Tourism: Pretty snow turns Greece into a white wonderland

Regions around Greece experienced heavy snowfall overnight turning the country into a pretty winter wonderland, greekcitytimes.com reports.

Even at relatively low-lying areas, snow fell due to the phenomena caused by a low barometric pressure system dubbed  “Sophia.”

It snowed all across the prefectures of Macedonia, Ioannina, Trikala and Larissa and snow chains were required on several roads.

“Sophia” will continue to bring very low temperatures, as a mass of cold air from the north sweeps across the country. Temperatures will drop several degrees below zero Celsius on Friday and Saturday, especially in central and northern Greece.

Rain and storms are also expected in central and southern Greece, the Ionian and Aegean Seas and all their coastal areas.

For those driving travel with care, and for those flying check with your airline as several flights have been cancelled to and from Thessaloniki airport.

Severe frost was recorded early Saturday in the central and northern parts of Greece and in many cases the thermometre showed below -10C, according to ANA.

The meteo stations of the National Observatory of Athens report that the lowest temperatures were recorded in Variko (Florina region) -12.5C, in Vovousa (Ioannina region) -11.7C, in the city of Grevena -11.5C, in Aghia Kyriaki (Ioannina region) 11.2C, in the city of Ioannina -10.9C, in Plikati (Ioannina region) -10.7C and in Mesovouno and Vlasti (Kozani region) 10.6C and 10.5C respectively.

Many roads remain closed across regions in Greece, with villages blocked due to dense snowfall, while problems in the power grid have been reported in some areas.

The bad weather is expected to continue with intense snowfall, especially in the east and north, even in areas with very low altitude, with strong winds in the North Aegean and low temperatures recorded. The phenomena, nevertheless, gradually, starting from the north will weaken and later on gradually completely dissipate in mainland Greece.

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