A Cy-Alert message was sent to mobile phones on Wednesday ahead of severe thunderstorms expected to hit Cyprus in the afternoon, with the west and south coasts likely to be worst affected, particularly the Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca districts.
An orange warning from the Department of Meteorology comes into force at 3pm on Wednesday and runs until 5am on Thursday. A low-pressure system is expected to bring rain and thunderstorms, which will be intense or prolonged in places. Rainfall could reach between 55 and 70 millimetres an hour.
The Cy-Alert message said winds would be variable with strong gusts during storms, and that hail was likely.
Rain is expected across the whole of Cyprus, but it will not be equally intense everywhere or last for the full duration of the warning, meteorological officer Andreas Chrysanthou said. “Only isolated events will be severe,” he said. Nicosia can expect rain and isolated thunderstorms, but these will be less intense than on the west and south coasts.
Rain is also forecast for Thursday and Friday, and there may be showers at times over the weekend, though not as intense as Wednesday’s, Chrysanthou said.
It is still too early for reliable forecasts for the rest of October, he said, though early signs were positive.
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