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Istanbul on March 12, 2022: A dense blanket of snow on streets and roofs
Photo: Isa Terli / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
Heavy snowfall has led to restrictions in public life and traffic delays in Turkey and Greece.
On a highway in the province of Istanbul, four trucks and a clearing vehicle crashed into each other on Saturday, the governor's office said.
A driver was injured in the accident.
There is a thick blanket of snow on the roofs of Istanbul.
There were restrictions on air traffic at Istanbul Airports: Pegasus and Turkish Airlines canceled several hundred connections on Friday.
The passage through the Bosphorus Strait was prohibited on Thursday due to the weather conditions.
The Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, called on people to stay at home and leave their cars if possible.
Heavy snowfall is expected to continue, he wrote on Twitter.
The Turkish weather service also warned of a lot of snow in eastern Anatolia and on the Black Sea for the next few days.
A storm is also expected in the Antalya region on Sunday.
Snow on Crete
There was also heavy snowfall in large parts of northern and central Greece on Saturday.
It even snowed for hours on the islands of Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros, as well as in the mountainous regions of the holiday island of Crete.
In the north of the country, the thermometer showed values around minus 15 degrees Celsius on Saturday night.
To ensure that drivers do not get stuck, snow chains were compulsory in many regions of the mainland at the weekend.
The railway halted services between Athens and the country's northern regions for 24 hours, state broadcaster reported on Saturday.
The Greek Meteorological Office expects a gradual improvement in the weather from Sunday afternoon.
Just a few weeks ago, surprisingly heavy snowfall caused traffic chaos in both countries, and several thousand people were stuck in their cars on the freeways overnight.
jme/dpa