Heavy rains cause problems in Northern Greece

[Ellinas]

A severe weather front that hit the border prefecture of Evros, northeastern Greece, overnight has caused serious problems in the region, with the Alexandroupolis coastline the worst hit.

Much of the Greek Railways (OSE) network on the Alexandroupolis-Komotini section was under water. A passenger train was stopped in its tracks by the rising waters on the border of the Rhodopi and Evros prefectures on Monday morning. All 46 people on board were forwarded with busses to a nearby village to continue their journey with another coach.

Traffic problems were also reported on the east-west Egnatia motorway after a truck overturned on the Komotini-Alexandroupolis portion of the roadway.

Meanwhile, all flights to and from Thessaloniki's Macedonia Airport resumed as scheduled on Monday. Several flights had to be diverted to Athens and Kavala throughout the night as they were unable to land in Thessaloniki due to heavy cloud cover.

The Fire Brigade responded to a total of 35 calls for water pumping in the wider Thessaloniki region, the most affected area being the coastal resort of Perea, east of the city.

ANA-MPA