Winter storms of 2009–10 in East Asia

Turkey's eastern provinces have been hit by heavy snowfalls in the middle of April, with the snow depth reaching some 20 centimeters in the center of Kars, a province bordering Armenia.

"People swim at the Aegean coasts, we are shoveling snow here in April," Güven Öztürk, a resident of Kars, told Demirören News Agency on April 13.

A girl walks along a path through the snow next to Costas Varotsos's glass "Runner" sculpture in downtown Athens on Tuesday. The rare appearance of snow in the city center came amid heavy snowfall in the northern suburbs and other parts of the country. Scores of schools are to remain closed for a second day today as the bad weather is forecast to continue.

Schools across Turkey were closed on Jan. 8 due to heavy snowfall and ice, according officials.

Ten people have been killed in heavy snowfalls in central and eastern China over the past three days, TASS reported, referring to the authorities.

More than 560,000 people were affected by the heavy snowfall and ice in the provinces of Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu. Approximately 200 people were evacuated from the disaster areas.

A new wave of snowfall and cold weather coming from the Balkans will affect Turkey, including Istanbul, according to officials from the General Directorate of Meteorology.