A powerful barrage of heavy snow engulfed Istanbul on Jan. 19, severely disrupting its vast public and private transportation infrastructure and bringing Türkiye's most populous city to a near standstill amid heavy traffic jams and widespread delays.
After a night of restless flurries, the snowfall transformed into an intense whiteout in the morning hours, swallowing the higher-elevation districts in a dense shroud.
Even with schools out for midterm break, the roads descended into chaos as a tidal wave of commuters battled to reach their offices.
Snowfall brought traffic to a standstill on major arteries such as the D-100 highway and the TEM motorway.
Drivers were left stranded in a glacial crawl across the 15 July Martyrs and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges, while routes to the Eurasia Tunnel became impenetrable bottlenecks.
According to official data, the city’s arteries reached a near-suffocating 80 percent density.
In response to the conditions, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced a temporary ban on heavy vehicles and motorcycle couriers.
The city’s transit network bore the brunt of the storm as commuters flocked to stations to escape the gridlock.
A technical malfunction on the T1 Kabataş–Bağcılar tram line crippled morning services, forcing authorities to truncate operations to a limited corridor between Kabataş and Soğanlı.
The treacherous wintry conditions ignited a series of accidents across the megacity.
In Bahçelievler, an empty public bus skidded on a snow-covered road and collided with a parked truck, causing property damage and traffic delays.
In Üsküdar, a car lost control on an icy street, striking a pedestrian and plunging into a residential garden, leaving two people injured.
Pedestrians faced their own challenges, slipping on snow-covered sidewalks and stairways, while many residents spent the early morning clearing snow from their vehicles in residential streets.
According to forecasts, a significant warming trend will take hold later in the week across the city, with temperatures climbing steadily to a much milder 10 degrees Celsius.
