Strong winds wreak havoc in Larnaca

STRONG winds that broke out on Sunday evening in the Larnaca Paralimni coastal area wreaked havoc in the area.

The winds, with a speed of thirty knots, broke electricity cables in Larnaca causing a fire, which was put out by the Fire Department. Problems were caused in other areas, while in the areas affected visibility was extremely low.

According to the spokeswoman of the fire department, Lisa Kemmidji, “the fire department was called out to five different incidents involving broken windows, trees that were ripped out of the ground and fires caused by cables broken by the strong winds.”

Head of the Meteorological Services, Kyriacos Theophilou, attributed the phenomenon to the instability and low pressures in the region. Speaking on CyBC radio Theophilou said the forecast had predicted that there would probably be a storm, adding that the services “all through the day and the night were warning all the responsible parties”, in particular anyone planning to go out to sea.

Theophilou said that in the coming days, Cyprus would “be affected by high pressure leading to a gradual rise in temperature, which on Thursday will reach 40 degrees Celsius. At the same time there will be a gradual reduction in humidity”.

Kleanthis Nicolaides, Meteorological Officer and weather forecaster at Larnaca airport, said that the eastern Mediterranean region was affected by a wedge of low pressure which extended from the area east of Cyprus.

“Satellite photos showed the instability that prevailed, particularly inland and caused heavy rainfall and hail in the mountains during Sunday.”

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