Athens blanketed with unaccustomed snow

The Greek capital Athens was blanketed yesterday with a layer of snow, two days after officials said three people had died as stormy weather and freezing temperatures gripped most of the country.The snowfall prompted authorities to close schools and courthouses, while many public offices and banks provided minimal services.Many employees stayed away from work as the snow created traffic problems for a populace unused to driving in the freezing conditions.But Antoine Viredaz, a Swiss researcher visiting from Lausanne, was delighted by the unexpected snowfall.“I was not really expecting that much snow, but it’s great,” he said.Greek officials said Sunday that the freezing conditions had claimed three lives.Rescue services have received dozens of calls to help people trapped in their cars or homes by heavy snowfall.And on Saturday, firefighters rescued a pair of French hikers stranded in a forest on the island of Lesbos.The poor weather has also disrupted travel, forcing highway closures and coastal ferry and intercity train cancellations. On Friday, a Ryanair flight bound for northern Thessaloniki was rerouted to Timisoara, Romania, because of poor visibility. Meanwhile, the highest avalanche risk has been reached in parts of Austria’s Styria province, the regional government declared yesterday, as an additional metre of new snow is expected to fall in the coming days.Level five on the European avalanche hazard scale means that masses of snow can come down even on moderately steep slopes.Up to three metres of snow have fallen in Styria since the weekend. On the Loser mountain, winds have created 10-metre-high snow piles.