In the first week of January, there was an abnormal intrusion of air from the arctic that came down through Europe towards Turkey. This resulted in 23cm of snow in Istanbul, resulting in hundreds of cancelled flights and a halt in shipping traffic through the Bosphorus.
The same weather system caused frigid temperatures across Europe, -30ºC in Moscow, -19ºC in Warsaw, and -25ºC in Minsk. Tragically many died due to frigid temperatures, and many communities across Europe were ill prepared for such frigid temperatures. In Thessaloniki, Greece, which typically sees a low of 1.3ºC in January, saw extremes of -10ºC, resulting in burst water pipes, the effect of which can be seen below.
- rhat