- Title: GREECE: ATHENS HAS WITNESSED ITS FIRST HEAVY SNOWFALL IN A DECADE
- Date: 4th January 2002
- Summary: (W4) ATHENS, GREECE (JANUARY 4, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV SNOW FALLING ON THE PARTHENON 0.06 2. SLV/LV OF SNOW FALLING ON THE ACROPOLIS (2 SHOTS) 0.18 3. SLV/SV TRAFFIC ON STREETS DUE TO SNOW (3 SHOTS) 0.37 4. SV PEOPLE HUDDLING IN BUS STOP SHELTER AS SNOW FALLS 0.42 5. LV TRAFFIC IN STREETS (3 SHOTS) 0.58 6. SLV WOMEN HUDDLING UNDER UMBRELLA 1.04 7. SLV/LV MAN SHOVELLING SNOW ON SIDEWALK (2 SHOTS) 1.14 8. SV MEN STANDING BY FIRE AND SNOWMAN (3 SHOTS) 1.29 9. SV MAN PUTTING CHAINS ON CAR (2 SHOTS) 1.42 10. SV/SLV AMBULANCE SLIDING AROUND IN SNOWY STREET (2 SHOTS) 1.51 11. LV/SLV SNOW COVERED STREETS/KIDS PLAYING IN SNOW (6 SHOTS) 2.22 12. GV OF ATHENS IN SNOW (2 SHOTS) 2.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th January 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVA6BAPFTEWEPX72GY918A1W7CRI
- Story Text: Athens has witnessed its first heavy snowfall in a
decade with snow falling on the Acropolis and causing panic in
the streets, after snowstorms swept across the country.
A winter storm hit central and southern Greece on
Friday (January 4), covering much of the region with a rare
blanket of snow, disrupting flights and surprising tourists
visiting the ancient Acropolis.
A spokesman for the National Meteorological Service said
the storm was unusually persistent and snow cover could
eventually stretch as far south as the Mediterranean island of
Crete.
The heaviest snow in 10 years fell on central Athens but
was not settling. Much of the traffic stayed off the city's
normally congested streets and there were some power cuts.
On the Acropolis hill, snow swirled around the Parthenon
temple and guards gleefully played snowballs while Japanese
and Spanish tourists huddled against the weather.
To the north of the capital, suburbs were transformed into
a winter landscape more common in northern Europe, leaving
side streets impassable and stranding many workers at home.
A fire brigade official said the force had received calls
of traffic accidents mainly from drivers who had swerved off
the road and fallen trees from the strong winds.
Drivers who braved the streets took it slow and stopped to
put chains on their tires, unaccustomed to such conditions,
causing traffic delays.
Trains were reported to be working normally but the ports
of Piraeus and Rafina were closed to ferries. The cold snap
also caused delays and some flight cancellations at Athens
international airport at Spata, where smaller planes were not
allowed to leave, an airport spokeswoman said.
The meteorological service said temperatures ranged
between -1 to 2 degrees Celsius in the greater Athens region.
Temperatures in northern Greece reached -14 degrees Celsius,
and snowfall was expected to continue for the next 24 hours.
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