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.

Two highways connecting Istanbul to the capital Ankara were reopened on Monday, after hours of closure due to heavy snowfall and blizzards that took hold across Turkey over the weekend. Efforts to clear the snow enabled the resumption of traffic on the D-100 highway early Monday. The Trans-European Motorway (TEM) was reopened a few hours later.

On Sunday, authorities urged travelers to avoid the highways while stranded passengers and motorists were taken to dormitories, guest houses and other venues near the highways, with vehicles towed to safe areas. Bad weather is particularly affecting a section of the highway on Bolu Mountain. Hundreds of vehicles were trapped along the road for hours, creating lines of vehicles stretching for kilometers. Motorists stopped their engines and some left their vehicles to take shelter at rest stops. Earlier this week, 2,000 people were stranded on a major highway in the south. Bolu Governor Ahmet Ümit told media outlets late Sunday that it was the heaviest snowfall since the 1950s in the region.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in a statement on Monday that a total of 5,206 people were staying at student dormitories after they were stranded on roads in the provinces of Bolu, Düzce, Sakarya, Aksaray, Samsun, Şanlıurfa and Sivas.

Elsewhere, crews worked around-the-clock to keep the roads clear of snow but as of Monday afternoon, several were still closed, according to the country's road authority. The General Directorate of Highways (KGM) announced that several roads connecting towns in central Turkey, from Sivas to Kayseri, and other major roads in the southeast, including one connecting Diyarbakır to Bingöl province, had been closed. Long-haul trucks were also banned from certain roads to prevent blockages stemming from truck accidents.

A highway linking the Mediterranean province of Antalya to central Konya, which was closed on Jan. 22, was also reopened on Monday. The road was occasionally open to traffic but an avalanche last week forced a complete shutdown.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Adil Karaismailoğlu assured the public that most of the roads were still open to traffic. Speaking to reporters outside a busy tunnel on Bolu Mountain where traffic came to a halt on Monday, Karaismailoğlu said they had "two days ahead with challenges" but all measures were in place for smooth travel. He said they had 13,000 personnel in the field to keep the roads open but acknowledged the unprecedented snowfall, calling it "something we have not seen in a long time." The minister added that they had to shut down D-100 and TEM highways in the region for safe travel.

Karaismailoğlu said that the forecast predicted more bad weather for the next few days, warning the public to be prepared. "The root of the problem here (on the highways) was people who traveled without preparing (for bad weather)," he said, explaining that vehicles without winter tires aggravated the problem, which grew further when trucks skidded and closed the road. He urged motorists to keep their winter tires on and leave emergency lanes open.

Heavy snowfall had moved west from inner, southern and eastern parts of Anatolia over the weekend, with traffic chaos gripping big cities. In Istanbul, three people were killed in a bus accident on Sunday amid heavy snowfall, while another 18 were injured when a bus crashed into a ditch after the driver lost control of the vehicle due to snow and ice on the road. The passage through the Bosporus was temporarily closed as the blizzards and precipitation reduced visibility. Extensive snowfall in the southeastern regions led to the closure of roads to villages and remote locations.

In Istanbul, the snowfall is anticipated to continue into midweek. The city's governorate 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. Universities were also shut down for two days. Disabled and pregnant civil servants were put on administrative leave in the city. Yet, 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.

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.

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu told reporters at the municipality's Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM) on Monday that sudden spells of snowfall were anticipated in the coming days and urged the public to be vigilant. "The flow of traffic is fine at the moment but sudden snowfall may hinder our efforts to keep roads clear," he said. Imamoğlu said the municipality's crews were on alert and routinely pouring salt on roads after clearing the snow, which reached 25 centimeters (nearly 10 inches) in depth in rural parts of the city. "We have 7,421 personnel and 1,582 vehicles to intervene in the situation," he said. The mayor also added that the municipality has taken in 1,385 homeless people at designated accommodations and delivered food to stray animals on the streets.