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Winter has finally decided to come to Greece. The whole country is in the grip of heavy snowfall, strong winds and low temperatures. It is snowing in the high parts, but also in some lowland areas in northern and central Greece. There is a heavy rainfall in the region of Attica and it will probably start snowing in the Parnitha Mountain near Athens in the evening. Heavy snow is falling in the region of Evrytania.

Heavy snow is falling across northwestern Greece. Its height reached two feet in some places and created serious problems on the road surface not only on regional roads, but in some sections of Egnatia highway. Drivers of dozens of cars and trucks are forced to stop travelling due to the snow.

There is a ban on ships sailing from the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio due to strong winds in the Aegean and Ionian seas. The ferry lines Perama - Salamina, Prinos - Kavala, Kefalonia -Patras and Kilini - Zakintos are broken. The strong winds, especially in the Aegean Sea, will reach 8 and 9 on the Beaufort scale. They will blow from the south on Thursday, but on Friday, they will change into north winds. Passengers wishing to travel by sea will need to advise with local port authorities in advance. Late in the afternoon, the ban for many of the ports was lifted but only for passenger ships.
 
According to the civil protection service, the situation in the region of Evrytania is most serious and the use of snow chains on the roads there is required. Schools throughout the area are closed due to bad weather. Snow chains are required for the roads in the mountainous regions of Florina, Kozani, Kastoria and Grevena, Thessaloniki-Serres road, the road to the ski centre "3-5 wells" in the Kaimakchalan Mountain and in the mountainous region over Trikala in central Greece. The roads in the eastern region of Macedonia and Thrace are clean.
 
It is expected to snow in the northern and western mountains around Athens and in the Hortiatis Mountain and the regions of Peristeri, Asiros and Livadi around Thessaloniki on Thursday night. Snowfall in the city has already begun and the secondary road between the villages of Hortiatis and Agios Vassilios is closed. Snow chains are mandatory on the Serres-Promahon road and the secondary roads to villages Petrisi and Angistro near the border with Bulgaria.

All national and international flights from Thessaloniki Airport Macedonia were postponed since morning because of the low clouds that prevented the planes to reach the landing corridor.

Heavy snow caused problems in electricity supply in many areas. Dozens of villages in the region of Karditsa in Central Greece and Ioannina in Epirus area remained without electricity.

Bad weather is not expected to last long. The improvement in the Athens area will begin at noon on Friday and will last until Christmas, when the maximum temperature will reach 11-12° C.

In the rest of the country, the change will begin slightly later than in Western Greece and will move to the north. The weather almost all over Greece will stabilize by Saturday noon, but temperatures will remain low until the middle of next week.

The people of Athens and Thessaloniki will have not a snowy but a cloudy Christmas, as the sun in the capital is not expected to shine until at least next Wednesday. Weather improvement in the area of ​​Thessaloniki will start on Tuesday.