Country shivers amid new cold wave

ISTANBUL

While warm days at the beginning of April gave a sigh of relief, Turkey will be witnessing another cold week with temperatures expected to decline by 10 degrees Celsius on average due to a new cold wave entering the country from the Balkans, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has announced.

According to a statement by the bureau, the provinces in the Marmara region will face the cold the most.

“The temperatures will go down between 8 and 12 degrees throughout the country. There is a high expectation of heavy rainfalls in the Marmara region,” it said.

Rainfalls started in the northwestern provinces of Kırklareli, Edirne and Tekirdağ as of early April 11, with intermittent rain occurring in Istanbul and neighboring provinces Kocaeli, Sakarya and Yalova.

The temperatures will be around 12 degrees Celsius in Edirne, 11 degrees in Kırklareli and 6 degrees in Tekirdağ throughout the week.

Bulgarian and Greek tourists visiting the border provinces complained about the sharp decline in temperatures.

The service also warned residents in some Marmara and Aegean provinces of frost on April 12.

“The temperatures in Istanbul were 20 degrees Celsius on the weekend but will decline by 10 degrees Celsius with the start of the week,” meteorologist Hüseyin Öztel said.

According to Öztel, the temperatures in Istanbul will increase by 2 degrees Celsius each day until April 15.

The meteorologist also said he expected to see snowfalls in some Central Anatolian provinces on April 12.

“The country, in general, should be prepared for the cold wave until April 15, but the cold weather will leave the eastern province on April 17,” the service noted.

Separately, an expert warned of a warm summer with drought risk came despite heavy precipitation throughout the winter.

“Turkey survived months of precipitation, and the dams are all full. But we should not be mistaken,” said Berkant Ödemiş, a professor from Mustafa Kemal University in the southern province of Hatay.

“Due to global warming, the duration of summers will enlarge. The country may witness drought until November,” he warned.

He asked authorities to make plans on using water and underground water sources judiciously as soon as possible as this drought risk will also emerge in the coming years.

“Dams are full. There is plenty of water for now. But let’s not be deceived,” Ödemiş stressed.