The city of Ioannina, Chania on the isle of Crete, the island of Lesbos and areas aorund Attica faced power blackouts due to gale-force winds that struck around Greece on New Year’s Eve. Power lines fell and electricity in low-voltage settlements was restored gradually.

Floods in basements of buildings in Chania, Crete, resulted from a storm in the early morning hours of Thursday while drivers remained trapped in their cars. There were fallen power lines and flooding and remote mountain villages were isolated.

In Attica, cars need snow chains to move around sections of the old national Athens-Thebes highway and rural roads around Porto Germeno, Enoi, Villia and Alepochori. The Penteli-Nea Makri road north of Athens was off bounds while there were problems on Mot. Penteli and the casino area.

Northern Greece had freezing temperatures and was covered under layers of snow that stopped on Thursday. Roads were frozen and several areas needed snow chains or special tyres.

Temperatres are still low in the north. Thessaloniki has 0C, Grevena -6C, Florina -10C and Alexandroupoli has 2C.

Wind velocity at 9 Beaufort caused problems to ferry schedules on Thursday and there are no ferries departing from the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio except to areas within the Saronic Gulf, such as to the isles of Aegina and salamina.

Central Greece and the Sporadic islands and Rio and Antirrio in Patras had ferry schedules cancelled but those in northern Greece from Kavala to the isle of Thassos have resumed. Schedules in the Ionian Sea are operating as usual.