The snowfall that has triggered a weather alert in Istanbul continues today for the second day in a row, particularly affecting the highest parts of the Turkish metropolis of 16 million inhabitants and causing problems for road transport as well as flight cancellations.
After a period of several days with milder temperatures, the entry of a cold front from Siberia caused minimum temperatures to plummet from yesterday, leaving the first significant snowfall in the highest parts of Istanbul while in areas closer to the coast the precipitation was in the form of sleet.
Turkish media reported that snow plough teams have been deployed throughout Istanbul province following an alert issued by the Turkish State Meteorological Service. The snow has continued to fall today with moderate intensity accompanied by winds with gusts exceeding 50 km/h, causing a thermal sensation of -2°C.
The snowfall has caused disruption to road transport and traffic as well as flight cancellations at Sabiha Gökçen airport, located on the Asian side of the city, where up to 20% of scheduled flights were cancelled today, and 10% of flights scheduled for tomorrow have already been cancelled as a result of the prolongation of the snowfall (which was initially expected to last only between yesterday and today), affecting several airlines.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Disaster Coordination Centre (AKOM) has confirmed that the snowfall alert for Istanbul will last until at least tomorrow morning; maximum temperatures for 6-7 February are forecast to drop to 5-6°C, and sleet-like precipitation, with sporadic heavy snowfall at higher elevations, is expected to continue until tomorrow, Friday. Snow is also falling in other northwestern provinces of Turkey such as Kocaeli and Bursa, also affecting central and eastern Turkey.
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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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