A photo taken on January 1, 2016 shows rooftops covered with snow after a snowfall at the old city of Istanbul. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images)

A heavy snowstorm in Turkey has already taken the lives of at least four people,left hundreds of villages without power, closed hundreds of roads and stranded thousands of airline passengers.

Slick and snowy conditions on the roads have proved deadly for drivers. Today's Zaman reported that in Istanbul, a driver lost control and skidded into three snow removal workers on Friday; .

Al Jazeera reported that in a 13-car pileup in Istanbul.

The cancelation of hundreds of flights in both of Istanbul's major airportson Friday, Cihan reported.

According to the Andalou Agency,throughout the country have had road closures. Today's Zaman reported that hundreds of villages are without power.

"As of New Year's morning, 18 centimeters, or about 7 inches, of snow was reported on the ground in Istanbul," weather.com senior meteorologist said. "The Black Sea coastal city of Giresun reported 48 centimeters, or just under 19 inches, of snow cover."

Temperatures dipped well below freezing and are expected to continue dropping.

"The latest round of snow should diminish Saturday in eastern Turkey and the Caucasus, but another round may move in late Sunday into Monday, as a large, clogged, cold gyre in the upper atmosphere, centered over eastern Ukraine and western Russia, circulates disturbances into Turkey and the Middle East," Erdman said."Also, cold winds pouring over the warmer waters of the Black Sea will lead to locally heavy 'sea-effect snow' along the coast through early in the week."

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A large part of a tree that fell during last night's snow storm covers a house on Sumac Drive on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, in Janesville, Wis. (Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP)