Wintry weather coming in many parts of Greece
A double cold spell is just around the corner, with storms, snowfall, gusty winds and a drop in temperature across most of the country, according to the national weather service, EMY.
In particular, the first wave is expected Tuesday and Wednesday, while the second will make its appearance on Friday and Saturday and is expected to be more severe.
Tuesday has been seeing showers and local thunderstorms mainly occur in the eastern and southern parts of the country, while the phenomena will intensify in the Cyclades, Crete, the East Aegean islands, the Dodecanese and the southern Peloponnese over the day. There will even be snow at low altitudes, while the drop in temperature will be noticeable.
Showers have also made an appearance in the Greek capital, with the wintry weather expected to intensify and, perhaps, even bring snow to the surrounding mountains, namely Parnitha, Ymittos and Penteli. The temperature will drop significantly from the afternoon onward.
Heavy rainfall, strong winds and hail, meanwhile, caused landslides and falling rocks on the provincial road network of Sithonia in Halkidiki, northern Greece, while snow also started falling on Mount Hortiatis, near Thessaloniki, on Tuesday.
According to EMY, temperatures throughout the country will drop further on Wednesday. In northern and central parts of the country, they will reach highs of between 5-7 degrees Celsius. In the rest of the mainland and the Ionian Sea they will reach 10-12C and in the Aegean 12-14C. There will be frost in the early morning and evening hours in parts on the northern mainland.
In Attica, there will be increasing clouds with showers in some regions until the afternoon. The winds will blow from the north at speeds of 4-6 Beaufort and in the east locally at 7-8 Beaufort, with a gradual weakening from noon onward. Temperature will range from 5 to 11 degrees Celsius.
In the west, it will be partly cloudy and in the east cloudy with some local showers. Sporadic thunderstorms are possible in the morning hours in the Dodecanese. Snowfall will appear occasionally in Thrace, in the mainland mountains, in the mountains of Crete and in semi-mountainous areas of the prefecture of Magnisia.
Winds will blow in the west east northeast 3-5 Beaufort, in the east from the north 4-6 and in the Aegean 7-8 Beaufort.
