The weather split Greece into two halves on Thursday as the north experienced heavy snowfall, whereas a sandstorm and mini-heatwave hit the south and in particular the island of Crete.
The contrast in the weather was predicted by a Greek meteorologist a few days earlier.
Describing Thursday’s predicted weather as a “special day”, Giannis Kallianos had forecast that while there would be temperatures of between 31-32C in Crete, in the north of the country, icy conditions will result in snowfall.
His forecast was confirmed as in western Macedonia the snow has created many problems on the roads. Authorities in the town of Florina shut down all primary schools on Friday.
The landscape in Florina, as the photographs below prove, is reminiscent of winter instead of early spring. Weathermen say that the snowfall will continue on Friday.
By contrast, a wave of dust blown from northern Africa has blanketed the Greek island of Crete, forcing residents to don masks as doctors warned vulnerable people to stay indoors.
Blown across by freak weather conditions, the dust has turned Crete into a landscape more akin to the planet Mars than a Mediterranean island.
Undeterred, however, some residents have been documenting the amazing scenes, with one intrepid man taking to the island’s roads to film a high-speed documentary of the day the dust came.
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