A new meeting was held today at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in view of the second wave of bad weather “Elpis”, starting tomorrow, Monday, January 24, when intense weather phenomena are forecast to sweep across most of the country’s regions, with heavy snowfall and frost.

The meeting was held under the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, in the presence of the Minister of State, Akis Skertsos, and was attended by the Deputy Minister of Interior, Stelios Petsas, the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis, and the Minister of Civil Protection, Triantopoulos, responsible for state aid and recovery from natural disasters and other competent officials.

In addition, the top Army brass was also present, including the Chief of General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros.

The meeting focuses on three key areas of concern: The operation of the schools, the ability of the forces managing the highways to keep them open, so that the economic and social activity of the country, its functionality, as well as the assurance that everywhere, even in the smallest village, we will have problems with electricity.

In a statement released after the meeting, the authorities strongly urged the citizens to be very careful and to avoid any unnecessary movement for the next 48 hours. “We strongly advise the citizens of the areas where strong phenomena are forecast to hit to use have anti-skid chains with them.”

In relation to the operation of the schools, the authorities would be continuously evaluating the situation, and decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis. In Attica, a meeting is currently being held with the Regional Governor and the Mayors to make decisions based on the new meteorological data. As far as areas of Evia, Sporades, and islands of the Cyclades are concerned, decisions have already been made by the local government and the majority of schools will remain closed for the next two days. Parents will be informed by the media about these areas. It is clear that where schools do not operate there will be distance learning.

According to the information of HNMS, Hellenic National Meteorological Service, tomorrow Monday, but also on Tuesday, very intense weather phenomena are expected with unprecedented heavy snowfall in parts of the country, including regions where snow is a rare occurrence.

It is forecast that in the central and northern Aegean, Sporades, Evia, eastern Thessaly, mainly in Magnesia, in eastern Central Greece and in Attica, eastern Peloponnese, Cyclades, and Crete, we will have the most intense weather phenomena and heavy snowfall. The effects in the north of the country will start late tonight. “Regardless of the weather right now, everyone should know that there may be an unexpected change in the weather in their area. Especially for Attica” and according to the updated data from HNMS, the phenomena are expected to start a little earlier than the initial estimate of meteorologists, ie from early noon, tomorrow Monday.

UPDATE

By decision of the Governor of Attica G. Patoulis, primary and secondary schools in Attica will remain closed for the next two days, January 24 and 25. 

After consultations with the political leadership of the Ministry of Civil Protection, the Deputy Regional Governors, the Mayors, and all competent bodies, regarding the evolution of the bad weather ELPIS and evaluating all the data, Patoulis decided for the safety of students and teachers to suspend the operation of the schools in Attica in the next two days 24 and 25 January 2022.