Heavy snowfall across Turkey: Roads closed, flights cancelled

* Photos: AA

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İstanbul has been hit by heavy snowfall since January 22. İstanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, in a message on Twitter, has announced that today and tomorrow (January 24-25) will be snow days for universities. Yerlikaya has also said that motorcycle couriers will not work in the city until further notice and motorcycles and scooters will not be used, either.

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İMM) has announced that the İMM teams are still working in the face of snowfall and icy roads, warning the İstanbulites to avoid being on the traffic unless absolutely necessary. It has recommended using public transport rather than private vehicles.

Press Adviser to Turkish Airlines Yahya Üstün, in two statements on his social media account, has said that 67 flights in total have been canceled (36 at İstanbul Airport, 31 at Sabiha Gökçen Airport).

According to the forecasts of the Directorate General of Meteorology, snowfall will sporadically continue in the city center for three days. The Directorate has warned citizens against frosting on the roads at night and in morning hours, especially on bridges and viaducts.

Snowfall across the country

In addition to İstanbul, several cities across the country have been affected by heavy snowfall and blizzard conditions.

Pregnant workers and workers with disabilities have been given administrative leave from public service in İstanbul, Antep, Urfa, Bilecik, Denizli, Adıyaman, Eskişehir, Aksaray, Niğde, Zonguldak, Kilis, Nevşehir, Sivas, Maraş, Kırşehir, Kırıkkale, Malatya, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Afyon, Bursa, Erzincan, Dersim, Karaman, Konya, Sakarya, Yozgat and Mardin.

Due to excessive snowfall and frosting on roads and the teams' works in the face of these unfavorable weather conditions, entries to Bolu province were temporarily closed, which caused kilometers long lines of vehicles to form. While the ones stranded on the road were offered food, the roads have been partly opened to traffic as of morning hours today. (TP/SD)