Extreme winter conditions have intensified in eastern and northeastern Turkey, severely hampering daily life as minimum temperatures plummet to record lows of minus 30 degrees Celsius and authorities step up emergency measures. The cold and snowstorm is bringing heavy snowfall, persistent frost and strong winds, causing widespread impact across most of the country.
After two days of heavy snowfall, the storm has given way to extreme cold. According to data from the Turkish State Meteorological Service published by the TRTHaber channel, the lowest temperature in the country was recorded during the early hours of the morning in the Karaçoban district of the eastern province of Erzurum, where thermometers dropped to -30.3 degrees Celsius. In the city centre of Erzurum, where the minimum temperature dropped to -12°C, the windows of parked cars were frozen, while roads and pavements were covered with ice. Icicles also formed on roofs and several fountains froze over.
The cold has also spread to other provinces in eastern Anatolia. In the village of Bezirhane in Çaldıran district (Van province), temperatures reached -28 °C, while in Bulanık district in the eastern province of Muş, the temperature dropped to -26.3 degrees. Low temperatures are also severely affecting daily life in Kars, where the mercury dropped to -19.7 °C in the provincial capital, causing rivers and lakes to freeze and frost to appear on trees and plants. Many residents had to resort to covering their vehicles with rugs and blankets to try to protect them from the cold.
Teams from Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) continue to work in the worst affected areas. Authorities have reported that road clearance work is still active on several sections of the national road network closed due to snow, including the Bolu-Gerede, Karabük and Çankırı-Çerkeş corridors, in coordination with the General Directorate of Roads.
In the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province, in Turkey’s far southeast, many residents were forced to abandon their vehicles and return home on foot due to the accumulation of ice and snow. Here, the snowfall, which has been intermittent for the past three days, is seriously disrupting daily life, preventing vehicles from moving, especially on steep slopes.
Complicated situation by snow also in northern Turkey
The situation is also very difficult in the Black Sea region. After three days of heavy snowfall in Bolu, temperatures in the area have fallen to -16 °C. In the district of Dörtdivan, where -16.2 degrees Celsius was recorded, as well as in the city centre of Bolu, car doors were blocked by ice and roads were transformed into icy tracks.
The storm is also posing serious problems in other northern Turkish provinces such as Kastamonu, where the snow was more than 1.5 metres thick in some areas of the Küre and Ağlı districts, bringing daily life to a virtual standstill. After the snowfall stopped, teams with trucks began to try to remove the snow accumulated in urban areas, while residents tried to rescue their buried cars.
Meteorologists had already warned days earlier that the worst of the cold and snow storm over Turkey was yet to come. In a statement issued on Friday, Turkey’s State Meteorological Service said the country would come under the influence of a cold and rainy air system from the west, with a sharp drop in temperatures across the country. Major cities such as Istanbul are expected to experience freezing temperatures on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, as is much of the rest of Türkiye, with the exception of the Aegean and Mediterranean provinces.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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