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Greece is caught in a white trap. Heavy snowfalls, gale-force winds and frosts have taken hold in most of the country.

On Tuesday evening, drivers remained trapped in their cars for more than 8 hours at the 104th kilometre of the road from Lamia to Athens near Akrefnio as the strong snowfall had tipped over a trailer. The road was unjammed some time later.

Traffic was hampered on the new Corinth-Tripoli highway at Nemea towards Athens, at Tsakona towards Kalamata and at Tegea junction towards Sparta.

Parnitha-Acharnes Avenue up from the lift is closed as well as the old Athens-Thebes highway.

Tyre chains are required on many roads of the provincial network. Many villages in the mountainous region of Gortyn are inaccessible.

Problems with sea transport will persist today as well due to driving winds in the Aegean reaching 9-10 Beaufort force.

Ship departures from the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio are prohibited.

At Piraeus, only journeys to Athens are allowed for closed-type ships. the line Perama-Paloukia-Salamina is operating normally.

The Rio–Antirio bridge remains closed. The lines Kavala-Prinos, Keramoti-Thassos and Alexandroupoli-Samothrace are not functioning either.

The lines Igoumenitsa-Corfu and Kyllini-Kefalonia-Zakynthos are running according to schedule.

"The Attica regional government does not expect road closures for snow clearing", said the Governor of Attica Rena Dourou during her visit to the regional snow removal coordination centre in Kapandriti. She urged motorists to drive cautiously and take weather conditions into account.

Because of heavy snowfall, road traffic in the Mandra–Eidyllia municipality in West Attica is only possible with tyre chains.

Motorists driving between Athens and Lamia have to put on chains near Malakasa. The same goes for those driving through the 22nd kilometre towards the Regency Casino Mont Parnes. Traffic on the old road from Pendeli to Nea Makri has been suspended from the 414^th military hospital to Agios Petros due to the snowfall.

A special banner was uploaded on the police website www.hellenicpolice.gr to inform drivers about weather conditions, traffic changes as regards circulation and road closures throughout the country.

The National Weather Service issued a bulletin, saying that stormy winds will sweep the northeast and southwest of the Aegean Sea, in the Kafireas Straits, south of Euboea island and near Kythira island.