Athens-Lamia highway closed north of Afidnes tolls

The stretch north of the Afidnes toll station on the highway connecting Athens to the central Greece city of Lamia was closed on Monday due to hazardous driving conditions amid a cold snap.

Heavy snowfall and ice were also causing problems in other parts of central Greece, where several villages were left without power and motorists are required to use snow chains at higher altitudes such as on Mount Parnasos and around the village of Karpenisi.

Greece’s national weather service said that apart from northern Greece and the highlands of the mainland country, lower lying areas of eastern Thessaly, central Greece and the northeastern Peloponnese will also see snow on Monday.

Athens, as well as the Evia, parts of Viotia and the islands of the Aegean, including Crete, were hit by showers on Monday due to a wintry weather front, dubbed Zenobia, that swept into the country last week and is expected to persist through the New Year’s holiday, bringing low temperatures, rain and gale-force winds.