- Title: Snowfall disrupts Istanbul transport
- Date: 7th January 2017
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JANUARY 7, 2017) (REUTERS) TOP SHOT SHOWING MAIN ROAD AMID HEAVY SNOW STORM PEOPLE WAITING AT BUS STATION CARS DRIVING PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOW WOMAN TRYING TO CARRY HER LUGGAGE IN SNOW TAXI DRIVING ON SNOWY ROAD PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOWFALL VARIOUS OF MAN SHOVELLING SNOW IN FRONT OF HIS SHOP VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING, SNOW FALLING MINI BUS DRIVING IN SNOW VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GETTING OFF, ON MINI-BUS PEOPLE WALKING PAST SMALL STREET FULL OF SNOW (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH CITIZEN, HASAN YILMAZ, SAYING: "I like walking in the snow; I like to ride my bike in the snow. I will later take the bike because the pleasure of riding the bike in the snow is totally different." (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) UNIDENTIFIED TURKISH WOMAN SAYING: "For sure snow is nice but if it snows in Istanbul, life stops. The roads are bad, especially the small roads where traffic is really bad and cars can't drive - big roads are more open for traffic; so snow is very bad for Istanbul." (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH CITIZEN, HAMDI, SAYING: "It is nice that it snows but it also has bad sides. People wait for it but then get annoyed when it really snows." VARIOUS OF SNOW AT TAKSIM SQUARE, TRADITIONAL TRAM PASSING PAST THE SQUARE TURKISH FLAG FLYING NEAR ATATURK STATUE COVERED BY SNOW ON TAKSIM SQUARE PEOPLE WALKING IN ISTIKLAL STREET, SNOW FALLING TRADITIONAL TRAM DRIVING PAST ISTIKLAL STREET PEOPLE IN SNOW IN TAKSIM SQUARE FISHERMAN AT GALATA BRIDGE AMID SNOW STORM VARIOUS OF BOATS AT KARAKOY PORT VARIOUS OF FISHERMAN AT THE BRIDGE METRO DRIVING PAST VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING IN SNOW ON THE BRIDGE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON THE BRIDGE WITH BLUE MOSQUE IN BACKGROUND, MAN TAKING PHOTO FOR SNOW
- Embargoed: 22nd January 2017 09:16
- Keywords: Turkey Istanbul weather snow traffic storm Taksim
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Environment,Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA0015Y2Y7GN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The Turkish city of Istanbul woke up on Saturday (January 7) to white streets and roads after snow started falling overnight on Friday (January 6).
The state-run Anadolu news agency (AA) reported that Turkey's straits were closed to transit shipping on Saturday as heavy snowfall caused poor visibility. The weather prompted the closure of the Bosphorus strait which runs through Istanbul and the Dardanelles strait further south. Both are important international shipping lanes for oil and grain.
Istanbul residents gave various reactions to the snowfall.
"I like walking in the snow; I like to ride my bike in the snow," Hasan Yilmaz said.
"I will later take the bike because the pleasure of riding the bike in the snow is totally different."
"For sure snow is nice but if it snows in Istanbul, life stops. The roads are bad, especially the small roads where traffic is really bad and cars can't drive - big roads are more open for traffic; so snow is very bad for Istanbul," said one woman.
"It is nice that it snows but it also has bad sides. People wait for it but then get annoyed when it really snows," Hamdi said.
Hundreds of flights into and out of Istanbul's Ataturk airport were cancelled on Friday when the snow storm first hit the city. 395 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday from both Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen airports in Istanbul were cancelled due to weather conditions.
Strong snowfalls are expected to continue in the coming days, with temperatures plunging. Snowfall has also caused hundreds of village roads to be blocked in the eastern provinces of Turkey. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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