ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Heavy snow has covered the Acropolis and other ancient monuments in Athens and the COVID-19 vaccinations in the Greek capital halted on Tuesday as many services across the country have come to a halt.
The snow, an unusual sight in the city of more than 3 million residents, also stopped most public transport services, while fallen trees caused power outages in several suburbs of the mountainside.
Parts of Greece’s main highway were also closed and most ferry services to the islands were canceled and flights from regional airports to Athens were disrupted.
Fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said the service had received more than 600 calls for assistance in greater Athens.
“The calls mainly concerned felled trees and the transport of people trapped in their cars to a safe place, as well as transporting kidney dialysis patients for treatment,” he told state television.
“Vaccinations have been delayed, but we’ve helped get doctors and medical personnel where they are needed and we’ve helped power technicians reach damaged power pylons in hard-to-reach areas,” he said.
Power and water outages were also reported in Central Greece, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with emergency response leaders to help residents in darkened areas and villages cut off by snow.
Snow is common in the mountains of Greece and in the north of the country, but much rarer in the capital, especially heavy snow. On balconies and in the streets, some Athenians carefully emerged and took pictures.
The snow arrived as Athens and several other parts of Greece are stuck due to a recent increase in the number of coronavirus infections. The lockdown has closed schools and most shops and kept residents indoors during a curfew.
Some kids skipped online lessons on Tuesday to play in the snow.
Outside Parliament, in the city center, orange snowplows cleared streets of ice and snow, while presidential guards, dressed in traditional pleated kilts and pom-pom shoes, were given heavy wool coats to defy the cold.
The cold snap, which has already triggered blizzards across much of Europe, kept temperatures around freezing in Athens on Tuesday, but it is expected to rise abruptly with a high of 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit) expected Thursday. ___ Follow Becatoros at https://twitter.com/ElenaBec and Gatopoulos at https://twitter.com/dgatopoulos ___ Thanassis Stavrakis, Petros Giannakouris and Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens contributed.