Greece, Turkey, Russia and US in Cold Grip, Snow Storm Hits Texas

Environment | February 16, 2021, Tuesday // 10:14|  views

The heaviest in12 years snowfall in Greece has led to power cuts, disrupted transport and stranded people in their homes.

Greece is in a cold grip for the fourth day in a row. Temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius in the north of the country. On the islands, northerly winds were blowing, reaching velocity of up to 118 km/h.

Snow fell even in Athens after a period of unusually warm for the season weather. Snowfall is expected to continue today in central, southern and northern Greece, including in the capital and the southern island of Crete.

In Turkey, the cold weather gripped the whole country. Istanbul woke up under heavy snow cover, and drone footage shows the snow-capped houses along the Bosporus coast. A severe winter in the metropolis closed schools and led to hundreds of fallen trees that caused transport chaos. Due to bad weather, the ferry service through the Bosporus has stopped, airports are operating normally, but some flights are delayed.

Snow cover in places has reached up to half a meter, and weathermen warn that it could increase in the coming days due to expected new snowfall.

Warming is not expected until Thursday

The snow at this time of year can hardly surprise Muscovites, but the cold in the Russian capital is about to beat records. Values range from minus 13 to minus 15 degrees, and at night the mercury drops even to 23 below zero.

Snow-clearing companies take turns working in24-hour shifts to clear streets and roads. All resources have been mobilised.

Snowdrifts reaching half a meter caused traffic jams in the Russian capital and cancellation of dozens of flights at Domodedovo Airport. Public transport capacity has also been increased so that people do not wait at bus stops in freezing cold.

Harsh winter hasn‘t spared US either. An unusual cold front has left more than 8 million without power in Texas and Mexico, Reuters reported.

The storm ravaging Texas and other southern states has led to icy roads, traffic deaths, power outages, frozen pipes and circumstances most southerners have never seen in their lifetime.

There are 4 million in the southern US state without electricity. Due to increased consumption, the local electricity operator is forced to cut power on rotation principle.

On the spot market, the price of electricity on Texas' power distribution network jumped by more than 10,000 percent yesterday. On Sunday night, a winter consumption record of 69,150 megawatts was recorded in the state - 3,200 megawatts more than the previous one set in January 2018.

Houston George W. Bush International Airport will remain closed until at least 7 p.m. on Greenwich (9 p.m. local time) today.

More than 3,700 flights were cancelled in the US yesterday alone, CNN television reported, as quoted by TASS.

 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!


Tags: harsh winter

Back  

Search

Search