Snowfall alert issued for 23 cities

ISTANBUL

As Türkiye grapples with the cold wave coming from Iceland, the Turkish State Meteorological Service has warned of heavy snowfall in 23 out of all 81 provinces, with temperatures expected to plummet in the coming days and heavy rains to continue to lash coastal and southeastern regions of the country.

Rain and showers are predicted for the coastal parts of the country and the southeastern region, such as south and east of Central Anatolia, Eastern Black Sea, and Eastern Anatolia regions, while the bureau has issued warnings of a possible avalanche in the interior parts of the Eastern Black Sea and the north and east of Eastern Anatolia.

According to the latest assessments made by the bureau, it is likely to snow and sleet between 10 and 20 centimeters in northeastern cities such as Kars, Ardahan, Ağrı, Erzurum and Muş and more than 20 centimeters in southeastern cities such as Bitlis, Van, Siirt, Şırnak and Hakkari. The bureau has warned citizens to exercise caution against disruptions in transportation, icing and frost, avalanches and blizzards.

Roads of 24 villages were closed after the snowfall in the northwestern province of Bilecik, while the governor’s office announced that road opening works are continuing uninterruptedly.

The governor's office said there were no settlements with communication and power outages, adding that the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) search and rescue and health teams were on standby.

Meanwhile, teams rescued 70 people who were stranded in 22 vehicles on the 10th kilometer of the Muş-Mutki highway due to snowfall and blizzard.