Heavy snowfall in Greece
27 January 09:00 UTC-28 January 12:30 UTC
In January 2022, parts of Greece saw unusually heavy snowfall.
02 February 2022
28 January 2022
By Vesa Nietosvaara and Joachim Saalmueller (EUMETSAT)
Although not rare, it is unusual for Greece to experience heavy snowfall. However, in the last week of January a severe snowstorm swept across the Mediterranean region, with major impacts, particularly in Athens.
Thousands of motorists were left stranded on a motorway around Athens and parts of the capital were also hit by power cuts.
The Meteosat Snow RGB images in Figures 1 and 2 show the situation after many days of wintry weather. One can see the snowy areas in orange colours. Ice clouds also show as orange, but in the animation in Figure 3 one is able to discriminate the static snow cover versus the areas where dynamic ice clouds are forming. Towards the end of the month extensive areas in Turkey and some areas in Greece were still covered in snow and snow was still lying in parts of higher regions in the Middle East.
Related content
Greece Snowstorm: Thousands of drivers left stranded as storm hits Athens (BBC News)
Athens under snow (ESA)
4K Snow in Athens Greece (World Fly Travel/YouTube)
