CYPRUS’ mountainous and hillside mountain communities were yesterday covered in a white blanket of snow, as the island experienced one of the coldest days of this year’s winter.
The mercury only managed to creep up to 8C in the capital, with the wind chill factor making it feel much colder. Paphos fared little better with a top of 9C, while Larnaca was the warmest place to be yesterday, with a top of 11C.
Police warned yesterday that all roads leading up to Troodos from Limassol were closed due to the heavy precipitation and icy conditions, a situation expected to extend into today as well. Police last night also closed off the Paphos route to Panayia through Stroumbi village.
Overnight temperatures on Tuesday fell to 3C inland and -6C in the mountains – it even snowed in Limassol village of Kato Polemidia for the first time in years.
Snow in Olympus reached 30cm and 15cm in Troodos Square. But as of today, the weather will be moving east and temperatures are expected to mellow, which means our dams will see precious little rain.
Everything was white from Palechori up to Troodos, with snow that started falling in the small hours of the morning, while it had been snowing all day and afternoon on Tuesday.
Area residents – and especially children who were off school due to a holiday – were excited to see the thick snow. But the older citizens said the levels were nothing compared to when they were young, where they would reach up to a metre above the ground.
The situation was intensified for residents in the Troodos area, as an EAC pylon was hit by lightning, causing problems in the area for phones and mobiles. Technicians had sorted the problem out by yesterday evening.
In Paphos, there was snow up until Mesogi, but there wasn’t any in the town centre.
From Tsada until Polemi and Goudi in Paphos, the roads were slippery and police.
It snowed a little in Larnaca too, in the Odou Community and Vavatsinia. But the snow was light and only showed on the tips of the area’s mountains.
Meteorologists last night predicted overnight temperatures of -8C in the mountains and 2C further inland. As for the rest of the week, the forecast is for slightly warmer weather towards the weekend with little rain on the cards. Today’s expected high is 10C inland, 12C on the coast and 1C on higher ground.
Temperatures are expected to return to their seasonal averages as the week progresses.
Freezing conditions are expected to hold out in the mountains and police spokeswoman Lefki Solomontos yesterday warned drivers to be extra careful when driving in the affected areas.
