Polar temperatures and heavy snowfall brought by the bad weather «Philip»

Cold air masses from northern Europe will move southwards and will affect the country with bad weather which will be called “Filippos”. The main characteristics of the bad weather will be very low temperatures for the season, heavy frost in some places and occasional heavy snowfall and, according to initial estimates, it will last until Sunday (13-03-2022).

More specifically:

Α. From the first hours of Wednesday (09-03-2022) snowfall will occur in the mountains and semi-mountains of the mainland and in lowland areas of Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace. Gradually snowfall will extend to low-altitude areas of Thessaly and central Central Central Sterea as well as to the mountains of Crete. In the evening it will snow in the Sporades, Evia and the islands of the northern Aegean.

Β. On Thursday (10-03-2022) snowfall will affect the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of the mainland, the Aegean islands and Crete, the lowlands of Thessaly, eastern Sterea and eastern Peloponnese and until the afternoon the lowlands of central and eastern Macedonia and Thrace.

Γ. On Friday (11-03-2022) and at the weekend (12 and 13-03-2022) snowfall will continue in the mountains - semi-mountains and in low-altitude areas in the eastern mainland and in Evia, the Sporades, the islands of the northern and eastern Aegean, the Cyclades and Crete.

In view of the bad weather «Philip» expected to hit from today Wednesday much of the country, held yesterday a broad coordination meeting under the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianides.

As the participants of the meeting stressed, their forces are on heightened alert to deal with any problems and a ban on heavy vehicles has already been implemented on parts of the Egnatia Highway. Specifically for Attica, it was decided that, depending on the development of bad weather, will be held a new meeting today, Wednesday, for further evaluation of weather phenomena.

It is noted that the General Secretariat of Civil Protection (www.civilprotection.gr) of the Ministry of Climate Crisis & Civil Protection has informed the competent government departments involved, as well as the Regions and Municipalities of the country, in order to be on increased civil protection preparedness, in order to deal immediately with the effects of the outbreak of severe weather phenomena.

Recommendations of the GGP to citizens in view of the bad weather «Philip»

The General Secretariat for Civil Protection recommends that citizens should be particularly careful, ensuring that they take measures to protect themselves from risks arising from the occurrence of severe weather phenomena, in view of the bad weather called “Filippos” (“Filippos”).
In particular, in areas where snowfall and frost is predicted, the GGP recommends that citizens:
If they are traveling by car:
- To be informed about the weather and the state of the road network
- Have anti-slip chains and a full tank of fuel in their vehicle
- Travel, if necessary, preferably during the day, preferably on main roads
- Inform their family members about the route they are going to take
- Change their travel schedule to avoid the peak weather events
– Follow the instructions of the local authorities, such as the traffic police, etc., to the letter.
If traveling on foot:
- Dress in several layers of light clothing instead of one heavy garment and wear appropriate shoes to avoid injuries due to slipperiness
- Avoid unnecessary travel during peak weather conditions (heavy snowfall, frost conditions)

At the same time, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection (www.civilprotection.gr) of the Ministry of Climate Crisis & Civil Protection, has informed the relevant government departments involved, as well as the regions and municipalities of the country, in order to be in increased readiness for civil protection, in order to deal directly with the effects of the outbreak of severe weather phenomena.

In addition, according to the Fire Department, the operational plan is being implemented to address the risks of flooding and snowfall, as well as the accompanying phenomena, while the Fire Services of the areas where the phenomena are expected to occur, have been put in a state of increased readiness and further escalation if required, in order to deal immediately with any problems from the onset of severe weather phenomena.

For information and announcements regarding the prevailing situation and the passability of the road network due to snow and frost, citizens can visit the website of the Hellenic Police Department www.astynomia.gr.

For more information and instructions on how to protect themselves from severe weather conditions, citizens can visit the website of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection at www.civilprotection.gr.

For information on protection against severe weather events, please refer to the website and the official accounts of the Fire Brigade, on Facebook and Twitter.

It is noted that according to the Emergency Weather Alert issued today by the National Meteorological Service (EMY), cold air masses from northern Europe will move southwards and will affect the country with a bad weather named “Filippos”.

The bad weather will have the main characteristics of very low temperatures for the season, strong frost in some places and occasional heavy snowfall and according to early estimates will last until Sunday (13-03-2022).

Citizens can be informed daily about the development of extraordinary weather phenomena in the regular weather bulletins of the National Weather Service and on the website of the National Weather Service at www.emy.gr.