The snowstorm that has lashed Istanbul over the last few days finally seemed to ease off on Sunday, with less intense snowfall during the day leading the city authorities to announce the reopening of schools for tomorrow, Monday, although the frost alert remains in place until at least Tuesday.
‘If the weather is bad, it is possible that classes will be suspended, but if the weather is good, there is no need. Our children miss their teachers. As far as we can see, and according to the weather forecast, the weather will be good on Monday. Therefore, schools will open from Monday onwards,’ said the governor of Istanbul, Davut Gül, asked by journalists and quoted by the NTV News website.
After the heavy snowfall that began last Wednesday, collapsing road and air transport in Istanbul, the governor of Istanbul had decreed the suspension of classes on Thursday and Friday in the city. During Saturday it also snowed heavily over the city, especially during the night. However, on Sunday, snowfall concentrated in the night hours, mainly in the Asian part of the city.
For tomorrow, Monday, the meteorologists do not forecast snow and the skies will remain clear for several days; however, they are warning of the appearance of ice during Monday and Tuesday due to the fact that the minimum temperatures will drop to -4 ºC, which raises fears of an increase in accidents on the roads like the one that occurred last night in Beykoz, a district on the outskirts of the Asian side of Istanbul: there, two people were injured when a car skidded on the icy road, crashed into a taxi and finally crashed into a house, causing one of its walls to partially collapse.
Extreme cold in central and eastern Turkey
‘It snowed heavily last night, an additional 20 cm of snow fell, especially in the northern districts,’ meteorologist Orhan Şen said in the last few hours, quoted by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, noting that temperatures dropped to -3 ºC overnight. ‘Snowfall will continue today, sometimes heavily during the afternoon, and could cause disruptions to maritime traffic. Tonight will be the coldest of the year, and temperatures will drop to 4 degrees below zero,’ said the expert.
‘On Monday and Tuesday there will be extreme cold in the regions of Central Anatolia and Eastern Anatolia, increasing the risk of hypothermia. The recommendation is that the inhabitants of these regions should not go outside… A wave of extreme cold is approaching. The coldest night will be on Sunday and Monday, and from Thursday, (daytime) temperatures will rise to 9 or 10 degrees,’ explained Şen.
With the end of the snow storm, Istanbul seems to be receiving a respite that will allow it not only to reopen schools, but also to try to restore normality to the city’s airports; it is a fact that for now, neither Turkish Airlines nor Pegasus have announced any major cancellations of flights for Monday. The heavy snowfall, which also forced the cancellation of classes in the central, eastern and northern provinces of Turkey, did not, however, affect so severely Ankara or Izmir, where schools operated normally.
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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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