Heavy Snow Continues in Greece on Saturday

As the storm “Filippos” makes its way across the country, many regions across Greece have been blanketed in snow.

The unlikely snowstorm is rare during this time of the year, when weather in Greece often begins warming up ahead of Spring.

Greece was hit with heavy snow and frigid temperatures starting in the middle of the week as gusts of cold air made their way to the country from Northern Europe.

“Filippos” brings snow to Greece in March

Mountainous regions of the country were covered in a thick layer of snow on Saturday, snowfall was recorded in Magnesia, Viotia, Fthiotida, the Peloponnese, and Evia. Light sprinkling of snow is also expected in the Cyclades islands as well as on Crete.

Snowfall has been recorded throughout Greece since Thursday, when the Greek civil protection service sent out a message to residents of Attica, Viotia, Fthiotida and Evia, with a strong recommendation to avoid all non-essential travel and use snow chains during Storm Filippos.

“We repeat a strong recommendation for the avoidance of non-essential travel and use of snow chains in Attica, Viotia, Fthiotida and Evia. Dangerous weather phenomena in progress,” the message said.

Primary and secondary schools in the northern suburbs of Athens and other towns in Attica were shut down on Thursday due to the weather, the Region of Attica said on Wednesday.

The wintry weather is expected to continue into Sunday, when snowfall will give way to sleet and rain in much of the country, apart from mountainous regions, where snow is still expected.

The storm will likely end on Sunday evening, but not before bringing about lows of six degrees Celsius (42 Fahrenheit) in the country.

Μόλις άρχισε να δυναμώνει σημαντικά η χιονόπτωση, βόρεια Αττική. #Φιλιππος pic.twitter.com/2X2JymxH2F

— RealPolitik (@machiavelli_gr) March 12, 2022

Country hit with heavy snow in January

A heavy snowstorm, called “Elpis,” hit Greece in late January, blanketing the country in a dense layer of snow that brought Greece to a halt for a number of days.

After the major snowstorm paralyzed the country for three days, a top Greek scientist warned that Greece could expect more heavy snow in the future due to climate change.

Dr. Christos Zeferos, Professor of Physics and Meteorology at the Academy of Athens, stated to television network MEGA soon after the storm that phenomena such as “Elpis” will become more and more common due to the changing climate.

“There are people who say that all of this is natural. The fact that the frequency and intensity of these meteorological events are increasing is not random. It is happening within a few decades. Climate change is here, it is with us, and we need to learn how to live with it,” he stated.