The bad weather “Elpis”, which has been seriously affecting Greece for the last twenty-four hours, showed its good face in Cyprus, until noon on Tuesday, January 25th. Despite the fact that the Fire Service and the Civil Defense remain in a hurry, as their representatives emphasize, they did not have to intervene in any case, while the weather forecast by the authorities speaks of a recession in the coming hours and a weakening of the low barometric , until the end of the week. The main problems that occurred were power outages, which were caused by lightning strikes and due to severe weather conditions.
On alert
The phenomena did not make the intervention of the Fire Service necessary, as the press spokesman, Andreas Kettis, stated in KYPE. Specifically, when asked if the Fire Department was called to deal with any incident due to weather conditions, Mr. Kettis said that so far there were no incidents, but “we are on standby as always.”
The statements of the spokesperson of the Civil Defense, Olivia Michailidou, were on the same wavelength, pointing out that there is a readiness to respond to anything that may arise. Speaking to KYPE, he said that, as of Friday, members of the Civil Defense carried out patrols in the mountainous areas in order to identify any needs and to provide the necessary assistance.
Flights were canceled
A total of eight planes departing from Larnaca and Paphos airports bound for Athens remained stranded, six in Larnaca and the other two in Paphos, due to the situation caused by the “Elpis” bad weather in Greece. Information of KYPE from Hermes Airports states that from Larnaca airport to Athens were canceled today until noon, four flights and two arrivals from Athens to Larnaca, with a total of 306 passengers affected. The two departures that were canceled for the route Larnaca – Athens, would be made by the airline Aegean and both by SkyExpress. Regarding the arrivals for the route Athens – Larnaca, canceled one flight would be operated by Aegean and one by SkyExpress.
Due to the intense weather phenomena in Greece, two flights are affected for today until noon, one arrival from Athens to Paphos airport and one departure from Paphos to Athens, which would be operated by Tus Air. A total of 42 passengers are affected by the cancellations of flights from Paphos airport to Athens. It is noted that yesterday, Monday, January 24, four flights, two arrivals from Athens – Larnaca and two departures Larnaca – Athens were canceled, while 228 passengers were affected.
Electricity problems
The most serious problems, so far, concerned the electricity supply, as it appears from the website of the Cyprus Electricity Authority, there are several faults recorded since Tuesday morning. Most concerned the provinces, first of Paphos and then of Limassol. As the EAC spokesperson Christina Papadopoulou told politis.com.cy, the problems were caused by lightning and some severe weather phenomena that were observed, mainly in the specific areas, with the crews on foot from early in the morning. There are, he explained, some faults whose detection is more time consuming, while when lightning activity is observed, the technicians stop their work, in order to avoid any unpleasant events.
Gradual weakening
The Yellow Warning issued by the Meteorological Service from Monday afternoon, will be valid until 16:00 this afternoon, while it is not expected to be reissued, according to what the Director of the Service, Kleanthis Nikolaidis, stated to KYPE. Asked about it, he said that “tonight will be a cold night, about the same as last night. Around 3 degrees inland, around 5 to 6.7 degrees on the coast and -5 degrees in the higher mountains. Phenomena will continue tomorrow Wednesday with local rains, isolated thunderstorms and snowfall at an altitude of 600 meters and above, with the temperature being significantly below normal. Around 8 degrees inland and on the coast, and at 0 degrees in the highest mountains “.
A substantial decline of the phenomena is expected to be observed the day after tomorrow, Thursday, January 27, without however excluding some rains until Saturday. The temperature, too, according to Mr. Nikolaidis, will rise slightly, but to remain below the climatic averages.
