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The heavy snowfall which began late last night in the Greek capital continues. Temperatures dropped to just above zero and are expected to reach negative values in the coming hours. Silver frost is already underway in the northern suburbs of Attica. The streets in the neighbourhoods of Aniksi, Pendeli and Agios Stefanos will be the first to turn into slides, according to meteorologists.

The second "strike" of the cold and snowy weather is expected early on Wednesday and will continue until noon when it is expected to change for the better. By Friday temperatures will reach values of about 14 degrees which are usual for the season, or it will be almost spring.

The sharp cold forced mass transport unionists in Athens to cancel the strike planned for Wednesday.

Bad weather conditions that affected the whole country caused serious traffic problems on the Greek roads. The residents of the capital returning after the three days off were unpleasantly surprised by the traffic jam along the highway about 35 kilometers before Athens. Poor organization and the fact that snow-ploughs did not clean the roads on time stopped thousands of cars, although the snow cover was not more than 3-4 cm. Indicative is the fact that many drivers have travelled from Halkida to Athens for 6 or 7 hours, although normally it takes about an hour. Two employees of the Ministry of Infrastructure supervising the concession company that is responsible for the road from Afidnes to Skarfiya were punished. Minister Dimitris Repas sent letters to the consortium and to the Inspector General of State Administration and the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court to investigate whether an action plan was prepared in view of the bad weather and to find those responsible for the last night’s chaos.

Some roads in the area of Athens remain closed due to heavy snowfall, and it is possible to travel on others only with snow chains. These are: the road to Parnita from the lift level and Phillies Avenue to Dervenohoriya. The movement of trucks on the minor road to Thebes from the 4^th kilometer is prohibited.

The traffic on the mountain roads from Hortiatis to Agios Vassilios in the region of Thessaloniki is stopped. There are closed sections throughout most of central Greece. Use of snow chains in mountainous and hilly regions in the north is required.

Strong winds in recent hours caused serious difficulties in shipping. In some places the wind reaches very high speeds, equivalent to 10 on Beaufort scale.

Vessels will remain tied to the ports in Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio, and only covered vessels will sail to the Saronic Gulf islands near Athens. There won’t be vessels sailing form Alexandroupoli to Samothraki, from Prinos to Kavala, from Arkitsa to Edipsos, from Volos to Sporades, Keramoti-Limenas on the island of Thassos and from Kilini on the Peloponnese to the Ionian island of Zakynthos and Cephalonia.

The ferry Rio-Antirio and the shipping routes Igoumenitsa-Corfu and Igoumenitsa-Leukimi are operating.

There was power failure in many areas in the country. According to the spokesman of the state power supplying company the bad weather damaged eight MV lines. There are still power failures in Attica, Pelion, Sporades, Central Evia, Viotia, Fthiotida and Peloponnese.