[Ismini Vlassopoulou/InTime News]
Snow, gale-force winds and rainstorms afflicted much of Greece Wednesday, with transport, education and public services disrupted as authorities pre-emptively closed schools and advised civil servants to work from home.
Athens woke to unexceptional rainfall, but heavy storms were forecast to affect the capital from the early afternoon. Civil protection authorities issued an alert urging Athenians to keep indoors as much as possible, restricting their movements to “essential only.”
In anticipation of potential flooding problems, regional authorities instructed pupils at primary and secondary schools to log onto distance learning courses by computer in the entire Greater Athens region.
Similar measures were taken in Patra, the northwestern Peloponnese and western central Greece, the regions of Corinth, Argos, Sparta and Tripoli in the Peloponnese, parts of northern Greece and the island of Evia.
Ferry services were severely disrupted, with a ban on most departures from the country’s main ports. There were also land travel disruptions, with snowfall in several parts of northern Greece closing roads to drivers not equiped with snow chains or special tyres.
State ERT television reported that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis delayed his departure for the World Economic Forum in Davos pending developments with the storms.
The Interior Ministry advised civil servants in areas forecast to be badly hit by storms to work remotely or take leave. It specified that this would not apply to employees whose job is to deal with the consequences of the bad weather.
It also said members of the public whose scheduled appointments with civil service departments on Wednesday have to be canceled due to the weather would have their meetings rescheduled.
The storms are forecast to persist into Thursday.