ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Heavy snow covered the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens and stopped COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital on Tuesday, as many services across the country were shut down.
The snow, an unusual sight in the city of more than 3 million people, also stopped most public transport services, while the overturned trees caused disruptions in several suburbs on the mountainside.
Sections on Greece’s main highway have also been closed, and most ferry services to the islands have been canceled and flights from regional airports to Athens have been disrupted.
Fire spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said the service had received more than 600 calls for assistance in Greater Athens.
“The calls mainly concerned felled trees and transporting people trapped in their vehicles to a safe place, but also transporting renal dialysis patients for treatment,” he told state television.
“Vaccinations have been postponed, but we have helped transport doctors and medical staff where needed and have helped energy technicians reach damaged power poles in areas where access has been difficult,” he said.
Power and water cuts have also been reported in central Greece, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has met with emergency response leaders to assist residents of blackened areas and snow-cut villages.
Snow is common in the mountains of Greece and in the north of the country, but much less common in the capital, especially abundant snow. On the balconies and on the streets, some Athenians carefully went outside, taking pictures.
The snow has arrived while Athens and several other parts of Greece remain blocked due to a recent rise in coronavirus infections. The blockade closed schools, most shops and kept residents indoors during the night.
Some children skipped online classes on Tuesday to play in the snow.
Outside the parliament, in the center of the city, orange snow plows cleared the streets of ice and snow, while the presidential guards, dressed in traditional pleated trousers and pump-top shoes, were given heavy woolen coats to face the cold.
The cold weather, which has already caused snowstorms in much of Europe, kept temperatures around freezing in Athens on Tuesday, but was expected to rise sharply to 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) expected on Thursday. ___ Watch Becatoros at https://twitter.com/ElenaBec and Gatopoulos at https://twitter.com/dgatopoulos ___ Thanassis Stavrakis, Petros Giannakouris and Srdjan Nedeljkovic from Athens contributed.