Cold, rain hit Greece, Cyprus
Bitterly low temperatures, rain, ice and strong winds continued to cause problems across the country yesterday, transforming many roads in the north into veritable skating rinks and forcing some schools to close. Drivers using the road network covering the northern prefectures of Florina, Grevena, Kozani and Kastoria were obliged to use anti-skid chains on their car wheels. Meanwhile, excessively low temperatures – reaching -11 Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit) in Kastoria – prompted the closure of primary and secondary schools across the prefecture and in Kozani and Florina. In Cyprus, heavy rain caused dozens of homes to be flooded, with Larnaca, Limassol and Nicosia particularly badly affected. And in Xanthi, prefectural authorities appealed for immediate state compensation for damages wreaked upon farmland by heavy rainfall over the last few days. Meanwhile the search continued for two men who disappeared off Rhodes on Sunday after huge waves whipped their car off a pier during a violent storm.
