Heavy snowfall freezes life all across Turkey

ISTANBUL

The Black Sea province of Kastamonu is one of the places where snow has turned eveything white.Kindergartens and primary chools were shut down for one day.

Heavy snowfall and precipitation brought life to a standstill across much of Turkey yesterday. Authorities ordered the temporary closure of many schools in 18 provinces, while efforts to keep roads and highways open continued unabated.

“Reckless, insensible, inexperienced or overly-courageous drivers also share [the blame] for the closure of roads alongside heavy snowfall. Our struggle is not with the snow but with insensible drivers,” Transport Minister Binali Yıldırım said, according to Anatolia news agency.

Kindergartens, primary, secondary and commuter schools were shut down for a single day in the capital, Ankara; the central provinces of Çankırı, Kırıkkale and Konya; the northwestern provinces of Bursa, Düzce and Bolu; the Black Sea provinces of Bartın, Ordu and Kastamonu; the southern provinces of Adana, Antalya and Karaman; the southwestern province of Isparta; the central-western province of Afyonkarahisar; and the central-eastern provinces of Yozgat, Tokat and Sivas.

Meteorology officials have also cautioned citizens about ice and frost, particularly in the Marmara basin, as well as in the central and eastern regions. Temperatures are expected to fall by around 8 to 10 degrees celsius in central Anatolia, while snowfall and rain will predominate in all of Turkey except the western areas of the Marmara region and the Aegean coastal strip, according to daily Hürriyet.

Meanwhile, access to 156 village roads has been restored in Bursa, where 238 villages had been rendered inaccessible due to the adverse weather conditions. Intercity highways and other roads were also clogged or shut down in other parts of Turkey as well, according to reports.