as the storm swept through. trucks and cars were stuck on highways. over 4000 people were stranded across the country. and this was istanbul�*s main airport, one of europe�*s busiest. crew had to push a passenger bus that got stuck in snow. the airport was shut for for over 24 hours. istanbul is a city of 16 million people. many of them are now forbidden from driving their cars. snow here and across turkey has been falling for the past week and have reached the southern beaches of antalya. so, that�*s turkey. and this is the greek capital, athens. it, too, was paralysed because of snow. parliament was suspended and schools shut down. this drone footage shows cars abandoned in the snow. thousands had to be rescued on this stretch of motorway. many had to take shelter in the city�*s airport. and this was the greek island skopelos in the aegean sea. snowfall and waterspouts are both rare here. karolina tagaris is a journalist for reuters in athens.