ROME - The sudden snowfall that hit Rome Sunday night has plunged the city into a state of turmoil.

 Rome government officials had attempted to prepare for the extreme conditions by provisionally closing schools and monuments and releasing weather warnings. However, despite the seemingly clear predictions of the icy weather coming in from Siberia, it seems that the Italian system has not dealt with the situation very effectively and consequently has been harshly criticized for their failure to cope.

 The heavy snow has caused the majority of the problems across the city and has largely halted movement across Rome. Trains have mostly been cancelled or delayed, leaving many people stranded at stations. 

 At 10 o'clock Monday morning there were train delays of up to 2 hours, which progressively worsened as the day went on. A particularly notable delay was that of the 794 Reggio Calabria-Torino service which arrived at Porta Nuova 29 hours after departing, having accumulated a delay of 9 hours.

 The Italian army has since been deployed to help clear the streets in an attempt to alleviate the stress of the situation.

 The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, has continued to receive widespread criticism for not having immediately returned from Mexico to deal with the chaos, however she is due to return to Rome today to help handle the emergency.

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