Temperatures plunged by roughly 10 degrees centigrade as the cold front “Oceanis” settled over Greece on Saturday, bringing bad weather that has disrupted both road and sea transport, ANA reports.
Gale force winds of 8-9 Beaufort, with gusts reaching up to 10 on the Beaufort scale, have led to the cancellation of all scheduled ferry departures from the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio on Saturday afternoon, as well as hydrofoil ferries to the Saronic Gulf ports. Also closed are the Rio-Antirrio, Kyllini-Kefallonia and Kyllini-Zakynthos ferry links.
A scheduled journey from Volos to the Sporades islands in the Aegean was cancelled on Saturday and the Keramoti-Kavala-Thassos, Alexandroupolis-Samothrace ferry lines were shut down.
Passengers planning to travel by ferry on Saturday are advised to contact the local port authorities or travel agencies before leaving.
The bad weather also affected road transport in northern Greece, where authorities have barred vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes from using the Egnatia Highway between the Komotini junction and the Vafeika, Xanthi junction due to the very strong winds in Rodopi and Xanthi. Large vehicles were diverted to the Komotini-Porto Lagos-Xanthi national road while snow chains are needed in numerous parts of the road network.
The island of Samothrace was especially hard hit, according to the local mayor, who said that snow had settled across the island and had exceeded one metre in depth in Chora, the main town, and other areas, while the entire road network was closed.
After problems earlier on Saturday, the city’s bus company OASTh reported that all bus services were now running normally, though with some delay due to heavy traffic.
Four flights expected to arrive at Thessaloniki’s ‘Macedonia’ airport were cancelled on Saturday because they were unable to land due to strong winds and low visibility. These included three international flights – from Larnaca, Nuremberg and Berlin – and one from Athens.
Flights to Kalamata, Samos and Skyros that are carried out with small aircraft were also cancelled.
The wave did not reach the Greek capital of Athens until late on Saturday, when Parnitha Avenue was closed to vehicle traffic, at a level higher than the cable car station, due to snow.
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