The Canadian army will send 150 to 200 soldiers to Newfoundland and Labrador to help the province recover from a blizzard that buried the region under an unusual amount of snow, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan announced on Sunday.

The soldiers were expected in the Atlantic province from Sunday evening to help with snow clearing and removal operations.

More than 28 inches (70 centimeters) of snow fell in 24 hours on St John's, the provincial capital.

The snow and snow drifts, caused by winds of more than 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers), blocked roads and buried cars and some houses.

The number of troops, both active and reserve, could reach 250 or 300 in the next few days based on need, Sajjan said.

The Canadian Armed Forces will also provide two Hercules transport planes and two Griffon helicopters, the minister said during a press conference on the sidelines of a government meeting in Winnipeg.

The snow clearing operations are expected to take time and could be complicated by fresh snowfall.

Canadian weather forecasts predict four to six more inches to fall in the next few hours.

Snow shuts schools, delays flights in Iran capital
Tehran (AFP) Jan 19, 2020 –

Heavy snow covered the streets of Tehran on Sunday, causing major flight delays and forcing the closure of schools, authorities in the Iranian capital said.

The snow started falling early in the morning and disrupted the flow of traffic on some of the city's main highways, AFP correspondents said.

"We knew that it would snow as of last night and that it naturally affects traffic," head of Tehran's traffic police Mohammadreza Mehmandar told state television.

"On some highways in the north (of Tehran) there was a bit of ice… and accidents were responded to quickly," he added.

Schools in all districts of Tehran city and some parts of the province were closed both in the morning and the afternoon due to the heavy snowfall.

Tehrani children took to parks to build snowmen and start snow fights as the capital was blanketed in white.

The snow dump caused long delays to flights to and from Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport.

"Flights at Mehrabad will go ahead but with delays due to the lack of proper vision," said Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Iran's aviation authority.

But flights were still going according to schedule at Imam Khomeini International Airport, also in Tehran, he added.

Flights at Mehrabad resumed around noon after more than 30 had been cancelled and others delayed for up to seven hours, state news agency IRNA said.

Several flights from Isfahan, Zahedan and Tabriz to Mehrabad had also been cancelled due to the whiteout.

Snowfall is forecast to continue until Monday in Tehran and other northern provinces.