Europe's busiest airport Istambul shuts down amid snow havoc

Europe's busiest airport shut down in Istanbul on Monday while schools and vaccination centres closed in Athens as a rare snowstorm blanketed swathes of the eastern Mediterranean, causing blackouts and traffic havoc. The closure of Istanbul Airport where the roof of one of the cargo terminals collapsed under heavy snow, causing no injuries -- grounded flights stretching from the Middle East and Africa to Europe and Asia. Travel officials told AFP it marked the glass-and-steel structure's first shutdown since it replaced Istanbul's old Ataturk Airport as the new hub for Turkish Airlines in 2019.

Our teams are carrying out cleaning works on the apron, runway and taxiway to resume flight operations. Despite adverse weather conditions and heavy snowfall our work continues at full speed. pic.twitter.com/3Xlc3CzYVy

— İGA Istanbul Airport (@igairport) January 24, 2022

The winter's first snow created a fun atmosphere across the squares of Istanbul's ancient mosques, where children built snowmen and tourists posing for selfies. But it proved a major headache for the 16 million residents of Turkey's largest city, where cars ploughed into each other skidding down steep, sleet-covered streets and highways turned into parking lots.