Heavy snowfall blanketed Istanbul on Monday and more precipitation and blizzards are expected up until the early hours of Wednesday. Officials issued warnings on road safety late Monday, while traffic came to a complete standstill, leaving hundreds stranded on major roads, particularly on the city's European side. The snowfall was some of the worst in recent memory for the city but for some, the situation worsened when Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) failed to take precautions to keep roads open. The municipality has denied the accusations, saying it has been constantly working to clear the snow-covered roads.

The snowfall increased on Monday and all intercity bus services were suspended until 8 a.m. on Tuesday, while motorists were strongly advised against departing Thrace for Istanbul. The governorate on Tuesday extended the suspension until 9 a.m. Wednesday. The suspension was lifted on Tuesday evening as the governorate announced all major roads were reopened.

All vehicles, except mass transit and those on duty – snowplows, emergency vehicles, etc. – have been banned from entering traffic until 1 p.m. on Tuesday under the orders of the governorate. Disabled and pregnant civil servants were already put on administrative leave in the city. Public offices in Istanbul were ordered to end their shifts at 3:30 p.m. local time due to an expected increase in the snowfall in the evening and related difficulties in transportation, Governor Ali Yerlikaya announced later on Monday. Universities were also shut down until Jan. 31. Other schools have already been closed since last week as the semester break began. Also, civil servants in Istanbul, except for security, health and transportation services, were allowed administrative leave on Tuesday. The governorate revised the decision later, giving another day off for Wednesday as well as administrative leave for disabled and pregnant civil servants until Jan. 29. Meanwhile, shopping malls will shut early at 7:30 p.m. local time, 2 1/2 hours earlier than usual.

Amid the snowstorm crippling life in Istanbul, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu and Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) head Yunus Sezer were ordered to head to the metropolitan city by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan early Tuesday to examine the situation and coordinate efforts to help the affected population.

The city's governorate had announced that e-scooters were banned from traffic for Monday, while motorcycle couriers, who play a crucial role in the delivery of food and basic items during the bad weather, were also banned from traffic on Monday.

There was no major disruption to traffic in the metropolis early Monday. Main roads and streets were largely open with smooth-flowing traffic while alleys and smaller streets, especially those located on slopes, posed a challenge for drivers, who struggled to keep their vehicles on the road.

Plight prevails for stranded

Yet, the weather conditions worsened in the evening, especially in remote parts of the European side. Motorists moved inch by inch as traffic almost came to a halt, while Metrobuses – the bus rapid transit system – were the only option for travel in areas without metro services. Some drivers abandoned their cars on the busy E-5 highway stretching across the city and boarded Metrobuses. Metrobuses worked over capacity, and though they provided a faster transportation option, they were also eventually bogged down by the high numbers of passengers. Others preferred to wait in their vehicles, from Monday evening to the early hours of Tuesday. Traffic moving at a snail's pace frustrated commuters who had to walk for kilometers to their homes in Beylikdüzü and nearby districts in the absence of mass transit vehicles to the inner parts of the districts from the E-5. Some companies allowed employees to leave early in the afternoon, while commuters working in other companies whose shuttle services operated at normal hours were stuck in traffic for hours.

People stranded on the roads complained of the absence of efforts by the İBB, claiming that the municipality's crews failed to pour salt on the roads to prevent icing and were slow to clear the snowed-in roads. Social media was awash with messages criticizing Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

İmamoğlu did not directly address criticism at a press conference at the İBB's Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) on Tuesday and instead gave figures about the work. He said the depth of snow reached up to 80 centimeters (30 inches) in some areas, and they had more than 133,000 tons of salt to keep roads smooth. "We poured some 54,000 tons of salt and about 21 tons of chemicals to dissolve the ice over the past four days," he said. The mayor said they were coordinating with all public agencies to minimize snow-related problems in Turkey's most crowded city.

He said the snowfall was unprecedented, but they aimed to reopen all snowed-in roads across the city. He acknowledged that the situation in Arnavutköy district, where people were still trapped in their vehicles, was dire, but they were working to tow away the vehicles and reopen the roads. The mayor warned that snowfall, which was less dense and at times absent during the day on Tuesday would increase again on Tuesday evening, warning people to heed the statements of authorities for measures.

"Nobody helped us," a truck driver who did not give his name told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Tuesday on a section of the TransEuropean Motorway (TEM). "I ran out of fuel and had to walk for 10 kilometers to bring fuel from a gas station," he said. Remzi Yeşilorman, a taxi driver stuck on the highway, said he gave a ride to a customer on Monday evening and could not return and decided to stay in a nearby hotel after waiting for four hours.

"We were driving to Esenyurt from the Esenler bus terminal. We hit the road at 8 p.m. on Monday evening. It has been 13 hours, but we still could not make it to our destination. People have been victims here, in the middle of Istanbul," Davut Kılıç, a motorist, told DHA.

The situation was not different in Haramidere, a busy section of the E-5 highway in the Esenyurt district. Some abandoned their cars to take shelter at hotels, while others spent the night sleeping in their cars. "I left my car here at 7 p.m. (on Monday evening) and checked in a hotel. I paid $51 (TL 700) for one night," Doğukan Mutlu, another motorist, said. "Mayor Ekrem left us alone," Furkan Yener, a resident of Beylikdüzü district where İmamoğlu served as mayor before winning Istanbul municipality elections, told DHA.

Rescue crews on Tuesday forged ahead with efforts to clear major throughways in and around Istanbul. The AKOM said an Icelandic low-pressure system was behind the cold front and precipitation affecting most of the country.

"Nothing is moving. The snowplows can't even reach us," Ahmet Odabaşı, one of the thousands of travelers stranded overnight on a highway west of Istanbul told The Associated Press (AP) by telephone. "I have been stuck here for 12 hours now. I am lucky that I have gas, food and water," said the motorist, who was driving to Istanbul from the city of Edirne, near the border with Greece.

On Tuesday morning, commuters scrambled to find transportation to work due to a ban on vehicles, while some areas were still inaccessible for buses, forcing people to walk again for kilometers to access public modes of transport.

It was announced later that all Istanbul-bound traffic from other cities has been halted due to the snowstorm. Vehicles will have to remain in neighboring provinces until further notice, Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways said.

Authorities said on Tuesday that 5,057 people stranded on the roads were evacuated, and 3,180 among them were taken to hotels, guest houses and dormitories where they spent Monday night. Local municipalities and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) distributed tea, soup, water and food to stranded people on the roads. The governorate also advised the motorists stuck in traffic to take shelter in 71 mosques along the routes.

Adil Karaismailoğlu told reporters on Tuesday in Istanbul that it has been "a busy night," but the traffic flow was partially continuing after clearing efforts and efforts to tow away stranded vehicles on the roads. He said Hasdal and Mahmutbey intersections, two sections of the TEM highway would remain closed "for now" as they were still working to remove vehicles abandoned by their stranded occupants.

Turkey's western and northern regions continue to grapple with dense snowfall that descended over the weekend in a spell of bad weather that has been battering other parts of the country since last week. Tucking regions in under a blanket of white, the snowfall and blizzards disrupted intercity travel.