Over 420,000 headed to parks and nature reserves in Israel on Sunday, the first day of chol hamoed with the bulk of the recorded visits in northern areas. As a result, traffic was extremely heavy and many motorists spend hours in traffic.

Many yomtov travelers are quoted as saying this was the worst they remember, beginning from the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway all the way to the routes leading to northern resort areas.

Some resorts and parks simply had to close to additional visitors since they were saturated well past maximum to the disappointment of late arrivals.

Thousands of yomtov visitors arrived in the Old City of Yerushalayim amid a heavy visible police deployment. Traffic around the Old City was heavy too as it appears many motorists simply did not realize the Old City is closed to vehicles that do not have permits, primarily residents. Their attempt to turn into the Old City only compounded the work of traffic police who were also dealing with an unseasonably hot chol hamoed day, with temperatures reaching the mid 80sF.

The unseasonably hot weather is expected to continue through the night with a slight drop on Monday, the 2nd day of chol hamoed in Israel, followed by another drop on Tuesday and a sharp drop on Wednesday, which will bring temperatures to the low 60sF.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)