Storms bring White Christmas to Cyprus

Cyprus is having a white Christmas while a yellow warning has been extended through Thursday afternoon due to local showers and thunderstorms spread out throughout the island.

Yellow warning effective through Thursday 4pm

The first Christmas snowflakes began falling Tuesday night while severe weather phenomena also affected some parts of the island as well as road conditions. Low visibility has also been reported in many areas.

In Paphos, the area around the Medieval Castle was flooded after waves hit the coast, while Poseidon Avenue remained closed. And on Wednesday, police said the town’s Episkopi-Natas road bridge under construction collapsed due to heavy rainfall.

Earlier this week, on the east coast, heavy winds blew off a residential roof in Xylofagou, while a number of nearby houses were also damaged. 

Police issued a statement warning drivers to slow down and keep safe braking distances, following reports of snow and sleet on roads including Platres-Troodos, Karvounas-Troodos, and Prodromos-Troodos. Vehicles passing through those areas must have anti-skid chains, police added.

In the evening, skies will be partly cloudy on and off with local showers and isolated thunderstorms at times.

Snowfall on Troodos is expected to intensify overnight with temperature lows registering at 7 degrees Celsius in the interior, around 12 on the west coast, 10 in all other coastal regions, while it will be 0 (zero) in the higher elevations.