Skiers take advantage of bitterly cold weather

CYPRIOTS flocked to the ski slopes yesterday following recent days of snowfall on the mountains as well as semi-mountainous regions.

According to the meteorological services, on Friday night snow fell in lowland areas such as Shia, Lythrodontas and Klirou too.

There is currently 1.70m of snow on Mount Olympus and 1.05cm at Troodos square. Police warned the public that all the roads leading to Troodos are open only to vehicles equipped with snow chains and four-wheel drive vehicles. Drivers are urged to be careful and drive at slow speeds.

Meanwhile, sleet fell in parts of Nicosia yesterday due to unusually low temperatures expected to continue at least until today.

Meteorological officer Panayiotis Michael said that in the mountains and semi-mountainous regions the bitter cold is set to stay put for today too.

“The intense weather conditions are over although we might have some light rainfall. What remains now is the cold that will continue into Sunday too,” said Michael.

Temperatures today will remain fixed at 11C inland, 14C on the coast and 1C in the mountains, 5 to 6C lower than the norm for this time of year.

On Monday and Tuesday temperatures will begin to rise slowly.

Michael also said that rainfall for February this year is already at 71 per cent of the average for the whole month. From February 1 until 17 the average rainfall totalled 57.6mm whereas the norm for the month is 81.6mm, with around 18mm of rain having fallen on Friday alone.

Reservoirs islandwide continue to overflow with the dam at Yermasoyia in Limassol being the latest one to overflow a few days ago. The dams at Asprokremmos, Kannaviou, Evretou, Arminou, Vyzakia, Xyliatos, Argaka, Pomos and Ayia Marina have overflowed already.

During February, a total of 25,651 million cubic metres of water flowed into the island’s dams, with the dams currently at 81.9 per cent of their storage capacity.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.