ROME: Schools shut as rare snow blankets Rome!

Tourists walk in the central Via dei Fori during a snowfall in Rome on Monday. 

• Italy's civil protection agency decided to deploy the army to clear streets in the capital after the snowfall paralysed Rome.

Romans woke up to a rare snowfall on Monday, after an Arctic storm passing over much of Europe dumped enough snow to force schools to close and public transport to reduce services.
Italy's civil protection agency decided to deploy the army to clear streets in the capital after the snowfall paralysed Rome with just a few centimetres of snow.

Parks that usually stay green through winter were blanketed with snow, giving eager Romans a rare opportunity to go sledding. Even the Circo Massimo became a hotspot for snowball fights, while Piazza Navona, with its famed Bernini fountains, turned into a snow-dusted winter wonderland.

Rome's Mediterranean climate and proximity to the sea usually result in mild winters, such that restaurants often keep outdoor seating open even through the coldest months of the year. As a result, the Monday morning snowfall, though not huge in quantity, brought excited young Romans out to play in the snow or walk in the slush. Mayor Virginia Raggi signed an ordinance on Sunday evening closing public schools as a precaution, and many private ones followed suit.

Elsewhere in much of northern and central Italy, the storm also closed schools and disrupted transport. In Moscow, temperatures dropped to this winter's low despite the approaching spring. The mercury in the Russian capital dropped to nearly -20°C (-4°F) on Sunday night, the coldest this winter, the Meteorological Office said on Monday.

Roman Vilfand, chief of the Russian Meteorological Office, told that Muscovites should brace themselves for frosty weather in early March.

Public transport hit

> The snow hit the public transport services also.

> Army was to be deployed to clear the streets in the capital.

> The snow gave Romans an opportunity to go sledding.

> Piazza Navona, with its Bernini fountains, turned into a winter wonderland.